On the Dark Side
by Death By Segway Scooter
Summary: The victory after the Gundam Fight was only winning a battle, not the war. Can Rain tame the Darkness, or will she be consumed by it? And what can you do against an enemy that always seems to know your next move?
1. What Are You So Afraid of?

**Disclaimer:** _Mobile Fighter G Gundam_ is owned by Bandai and Sunrise. I just write about it in my spare time.

 **Note:** I'm using the dub names because that's what I'm most familiar with, and it's best to be consistent. I may occasionally slip, so if I do, let me know.

 **On the Dark Side  
Chapter 1: Is It Over? What Are You So Afraid of?**

It wasn't over, was it?

Rain Mikamura thought this as she idly stirred her tea while staring into space. Despite the weather being pretty warm, she had chills running up and down her spine.

She was sitting at the table on a small balcony of the temporary apartment she was currently sharing with Domon. It was just a place to stay until they figured out what they were going to do between now and the next Gundam Fight. It was located in a decent neighborhood near Kyoto..."decent" by Earth standards, anyway. Their building was in good shape, but it was impossible not to see crushed, ruined, or otherwise dilapidated buildings no matter where one looked.

But she paid no attention to the buildings, no matter what state of disrepair they were in. She was too busy fighting off a terrible feeling of dread that was nagging her since yesterday. Just last night, she made the mistake of watching a news report on the cleaning up of the remains of the Dark Colony that still choked Neo Japan. It had been a month since the horrible thing had been destroyed, and they had just managed to safely take apart its main body. At first, she was delighted to see that thing come down - she even laughed and threw a few snarky comments at the TV screen. But her schadenfreude was cut short when a sudden, sharp chill came over her, forcing her to stop and shiver. She found she could no longer stomach watching the report, so she turned it off. The chills, however, never went away.

She nervously sipped her lukewarm tea as she tried to tell herself the Dark Gundam was gone for good. She saw the core blow up with her own two eyes - in fact, she helped blow it up! She was there when the Dark Colony rotted into a scrap metal skeleton and dead nanotech. There was no way it could still be functional.

But...that's exactly what they thought before, wasn't it? They thought it was gone when Domon fried it in the Guyana Highlands. It wasn't. They thought it was gone when Domon was forced to put Kyoji out of his misery on Lantau Island. It wasn't - she experienced that last one first hand. It sure _looked_ like they had destroyed the thing once and for all this time...but what if they didn't? What if some small part of it had survived somehow? What if this was one of those situations in sci-fi movies where it could return as long as a single DG Cell was intact? What if it was hiding somewhere deep within the bowels of Neo Japan, regenerating itself and waiting - just waiting - to bedevil them all once again?

She put her tea down and rubbed her eyes. She really needed to calm down...she was practically working herself into a panic right now. They completely obliterated the Dark Gundam; there was no way it could come back after what they did to it. If for some strange reason - by some bizarre outside chance it _did_ return, she was sure that she, Domon, and all of their friends could just destroy it again.

...Unless it got wise to all of their tricks and built defenses up against them. And found a different human core unit that couldn't be reasoned with.

 _No, no, no! Stop thinking like that!_ Rain berated herself for being so pessimistic. She really needed to stop thinking about Dark Gundams and Dark Colonies...and Dark Anythings, really. She stared at her tea as she tried to think about something else, something better. Maybe think about what her and Domon were going to do. Get married? Yeah, that was something they were considering, but maybe after the dust settled a little bit. Go visit their new friends? They should definitely do that, but again, they ought to wait until everything's calmed down. Besides, they had to figure out where everybody went. Did they go back to their respective colonies, or come to Earth? And goodness only knows where Argo and his crew went off to.

Domon was wanting to perhaps start his own dojo and pass on the teachings of the School of the Undefeated of the East. And as for her, well, she wasn't quite sure. She had acquired a lot of different skills in a short amount of time. Open up her own medical practice, maybe? Everyone needed a doctor. She had quite a bit of mechanical knowledge, too. Maybe open a repair shop? Maybe both? Or would that be too much for one person? Maybe she should just see how things played out.

And maybe contemplate the mystery of _the complete stranger sitting across the table from her!_

She nearly jumped out of her skin, and definitely jumped out of her seat. The plastic chair clattered to the ground and her tea spilled all over the table. And there was nobody there. Must have just been a figment of her imagination.

She berated herself again for getting herself so worked up as she stepped back inside to grab some paper towels. After retrieving the towels and making her way back out to the balcony, she froze. The normally greenish tan of the tea she had spilled was now silver. It looked like there was mercury all over her table.

 _Silver_. Like DG Cells. Like that horrible metal shell that the Dark Gundam coated her body with when it made her its core unit. That nasty slime that kept her ice cold and glued her eyes shut. She gritted her teeth as one of her eyelids twitched. She didn't like the color silver anymore.

Was she hallucinating? Yes, she probably was. She was already seeing people who weren't there, so it made sense to also see colors that weren't there. She was surprised her trauma (assuming trauma was indeed causing these delusions, and not something in her tea) was manifesting itself in waking hallucinations instead of something more traditional, like nightmares. She hadn't had one bad dream since the Gundam Fight. The closest thing that came to it was a short dream in which she was at the beach, and the ocean was as silver and metallic as the tea currently was. But that had been unsettling, not scary.

Well, whatever the color the tea was, it still needed to be cleaned up. Rain tried to ignore that her mind was playing tricks on her as she went to place a few towels over it.

That is, until the silver liquid reared up from the table and _lunged_ at her.

She instinctively jumped backwards, slamming into the sliding door behind her and making it rattle. When she looked again, the spilled tea went back to being light brown - and thankfully immobile.

She placed a towel on it from arm's length before going back inside and locking the door behind her. She then sat on the couch on the other side of the room and shivered while staring into space. She was very thankful that Domon wasn't home at the moment to watch her steady descent into madness.

She kept trying to blame her current predicament on some sort of post-traumatic stress, but a little voice kept correcting her. This dread wasn't due to any sort of paranoia. She felt it because deep down, she knew. She just _knew_.

She knew it wasn't over.

It was never going to _be_ over.

There was _no such THING AS_ _ **OVER.**_

* * *

High above the world on the space colony Neo Japan, massive cleanup crews were hard at work everywhere taking apart the remains of the Dark Colony. They had made some major headway yesterday when they managed to take the head and rib cage down to ground level. Now came the more difficult task of picking these enormous structures apart - especially the head, as many feared there may still be live DG Cells hiding somewhere inside.

Special crews dressed in Hazmat suits were assigned to go inside the gigantic metal skull and scout around. They were instructed to immediately notify their supervisors if they found anything that looked remotely salvageable. A few of them were given acid sprayers, EMP grenades, and plasma rifles in the off chance that something in there still functioned. A few Busshi and Nobusshi were stationed outside the largest entrance just in case the scouts found something functional and too big for them to handle.

The scouting mission was rather uneventful at first. Lots of burnt, twisted metal, rotting cybernetic cables, and not much else. But then they reached the room that had once housed the colony's main generator - here they found the remains of the Grand Master Gundam. The good news was that the behemoth wasn't operational. It had been completely ripped limb from limb, even melted down in places. The bad news was that the main power generator wasn't operational either thanks to this thing. The colony would have to keep chugging along on backup generators for a little while longer until a new one could be made.

The scouts quickly called for backup. As reinforcements arrived, they immediately began clearing out the wreckage. A few mobile suits had to be called in to drag the heaviest pieces out. There were also live wires everywhere. The electrical crew quickly went about fixing them or cutting off their power if it looked like they couldn't be repaired. One of the wires seemed to "fix" itself - it snagged on something, and for whatever reason stopped sparking. Not that anyone was complaining; less work for them! They were already way too busy. Maybe a bit too busy, as no one noticed the sandy, metallic substance that began to pile up around the wire...

On the other side of the head, a separate scouting team was preparing to enter through the gaping mouth. It was rumored that the "throat" led directly to what would have been this thing's core. They made absolutely sure their suits were airtight and armed themselves heavily; if there was any place live DG Cells may still exist, it would probably be the core.

The scouts entered the grotesque maw of the dead giant monster and walked down its gullet. It looked like a dark tunnel full of huge, rotten green cables. After a short walk, they came out to a huge, empty room full of cracked or broken metallic pillars. And an enormous heap of metal that looked like it had once been a gigantic Gundam.

Even though they were all currently exploring the ruins of a massive, mutant Gundam, and even though they were well aware that there would be more freakish mobile suits around besides the one down below, it was still a shock to see it. It resembled the main body of the Dark Colony, with a Gundam's upper body poking out of a larger Gundam's face. Instead of a faceplate, it had a wide mouth filled with giant, yellow fangs. Maybe this was the unit that was protecting the Dark Colony's core?

Whatever it was, its torso had been blown wide open by some unknown force, completely gutting it. They also spied some severed extra arms with long claws behind it. Other than that, it had been strangely well-preserved. Its legs and gruesome head had some cracks in it, but not much damage to them overall.

But just as one of the scouts was about to radio for backup to lug the ugly thing out of here, the team leader stopped him. The leader then stepped forward with a lantern to take a closer look at some of the damage dealt to the giant Gundam. The rest of the crew cautiously followed suit, shining their flashlights all over it. They were rather disturbed by what they found. All over the thing were small "veins" of a silvery color. Upon further inspection, these veins had actually been cracks in the giant's armor that had been recently patched up. The larger cracks, meanwhile, were filled with a viscous, silvery substance that almost resembled mercury. The massive hole in the chest was also dripping with the silver fluid. Seeing as how the foul Gundam had a month to cool down, it was a safe bet that the liquid was not molten metal.

Now wonder it looked in better shape than its buddy downstairs - this thing was regenerating!

The crew quickly backed away from the carcass, as if it was going to get up and chase them at any minute. Some of them futilely readied their weapons just in case it _did_.

"Should we call the boss about this?" the crew member with the radio asked, trying not to shake.

"Yeah. Call the boss," the team leader, who actually _was_ shaking, replied.


	2. The Darkness Yet Survives

**Disclaimer:** _Mobile Fighter G Gundam_ is owned by Bandai and Sunrise. I just write about it in my spare time.

 **Author's Note:** Many thanks to ALittleSalty1 for some corrections in this chapter.

 **On the Dark Side  
Chapter 2: Bad News! The Darkness Yet Survives!**

Today was going to be a bad day, wasn't it? Rain thought this as she walked home from the nearby coffee shop.

It was a week after the incident on the balcony. She didn't have any more hallucinations, but the chills still dogged her. It baffled her, as they were her only symptom. She wasn't running a fever; she checked several times. She wasn't malnourished or anemic that she was aware of. It wasn't overly cold in her apartment - if anything, its air conditioning didn't work very well.

She wasn't happy about the idea, but she figured if the chills did not go away or, heaven forbid, got worse, she'd have to go visit a doctor herself. Maybe it was her own pride as a doctor, but she wasn't particularly enthused about hearing someone else's opinion on her health.

...And with everything she had been through in the past year, she was secretly worried they might find something horrible.

As for the sudden return of her dread, she wasn't sure why. It just suddenly crept over her as her apartment building came into view. Was she coming down with depression now? She wasn't a psychologist, but maybe she was suffering from post-traumatic stress.

Or maybe she was just _that_ good at predicting disaster. For when she opened the door and stepped into the lobby, she found her neighbor, Mr. Watanabe, sitting on a chair by the door. He was an elderly man that lived across the hallway from her. Usually he wasn't awake this early in the morning. She wasn't sure why he'd be hanging around out here.

"Oh hey there, Miz Mikamura," he said. "How you doin' today?"

"Oh, hello! I'm fine, thanks," Rain replied. "What brings you out here?"

"I was waitin' for you, actually," Mr. Watanabe answered. "Ya see, there's a bunch of important-looking suits from the colony up on our floor right now. I think they're talkin' to your boyfriend. Anyway, they shooed a bunch of us out 'n' told us to come back later. Probably don't want us to hear government secrets, or somethin'."

"Oh, okay," said Rain. It was probably Karato and his friends discussing something with Domon. It probably had something to do with the previous Gundam Fight. Or maybe the next one. "I guess I could just do some grocery shopping in the meantime."

She was about to let herself back out when Watanabe stopped her. "Actually, they told me to send ya up there if I saw you," he said. "Said they got somethin' mighty important to tell you."

She shivered as she closed the door. "Okay then," she replied. "I guess I better go see what they want."

She thanked her neighbor as she pressed the button for the elevator. That feeling of dread descended on her as she rode up to her floor. It shouldn't, of course; it made sense for Karato and his committee to want to talk to her, too. She was Domon's only crew member. She took care of both the Shining and Burning Gundams. Why wouldn't they want to keep her informed? They were probably just discussing Domon's role as champion in the 14th Gundam Fight. Or maybe they were planning on upgrading the Burning Gundam?

After what felt like the longest elevator ride in her life, the carriage finally stopped and the door opened. She was immediately met by two guards stationed just outside the doorway.

"Good morning, Dr. Mikamura," the first one said to her.

"Prime Minister Karato and Dr. Kasshu have arrived from the colony and are currently speaking with Domon," the second added. "There's something very important they needed to discuss with you, too. If you'd come with us, please?"

 _Why was Dr. Kasshu here?!_ No, no, it was probably nothing. He was probably taking the place of her father, now that he was gone. She was surprised he would even want to, given how the government treated him.

"Uh, sure!" she replied as she stepped out of the elevator.

As the guards escorted her the short distance down the hall to her apartment door, her dread went into overdrive. There were guards stationed everywhere. Armed guards were standing by windows. She could understand why they shooed out their neighbors on this floor, even if it seemed a little extreme; the walls weren't soundproof, and they didn't want any random civilians overhearing government plans. Especially if those civilians had ties to other nations. But why did they need this many guards? Why did they need _armed_ guards?

She knew. This had nothing to do with any Gundam Fight.

The guards stopped her at her apartment door and radioed someone inside that they had arrived. The door opened, revealing the living room, which was crawling with even more guards and secret service men. Domon had pulled up a chair and was sitting across from Comissioner-turned-Prime Minister Karato and his father. They all looked up at her as she entered the room.

The look on Domon's face told her everything. He was always a very serious person, but his current expression could cut granite. All the color had drained from his face. His eyes were wide, and his pupils practically slits. Whatever they were about to tell her was not going to be pleasant at all.

"Uh, welcome Dr. Mikamura!" Karato said with a shaky smile. He stood up and shook hands with her. His hands were clammy and sweaty - he was obviously very nervous. Not good. The fact that Dr. Kasshu had his eyes closed and was looking rather depressed was also not good.

"Why don't you have a seat?" the Prime Minister continued. One of the guards supplied her with a chair from the kitchen table and placed it next to Domon. She dutifully sat down and placed her coffee on the low table in front of her; she had a feeling she needed to be sitting for whatever they were going to tell her. Especially since Domon was now reaching over and holding her hand. He had become more affectionate to her in the month following the Gundam Fight, but he still wasn't big on physical affection. That he would suddenly hold her hand was just another clue as to how bad this situation was. Like the Prime Minister's hand, his was cold and sweaty. The hand holding was probably him trying to comfort himself as much as it was comforting her.

Once they were all seated, Karato's polite smile quickly disappeared as he gave a tired sigh. "Look, we've got some really bad news here, so I'm just gonna cut to the chase," he said. "We found a piece of the Dark Gundam that's still functional."

Rain didn't know if she should to vomit or faint. Thankfully, she didn't do either; she squeezed Domon's hand and slumped in her chair out of shock. She helped blow that thing up. She saw a heart-shaped hole blasted all the way through it followed by it going down in a fireball. She saw the Dark Colony rot. And it survived?!

She berated herself for being surprised. Of course it survived. She knew it all along; that's where this feeling of dread kept coming from. She knew deep down that it would always come back no matter how many Sekiha Love Love Tenkyokens they threw at it. That thing was indestructible.

She suddenly felt herself becoming angry...very angry...

" _Partially_ functional," Dr. Kasshu corrected, as if that was any help. "Its main generator was destroyed, and it's currently trying to regenerate itself on some sort of backup power." He turned to Rain. "Let me explain from the beginning."

The doctor told her how last week, the cleanup crews had finished taking apart the Dark Colony's enormous main body. They were then able to enter the thing's core inside its head. In there, they found the remains of a giant Gundam with teeth and four arms. Rain instantly recognized it as the Gundam that had been created in response to her guilt over what her father had done to the Kasshus, and her desire to keep Domon away from her. The crews were about to drag it out, thinking it wasn't operational, until someone noticed a silvery liquid leaking out all over it. It was trying to repair itself somehow.

The Gundam was taken into government custody and placed in a cell completely made out of energy barriers so its DG Cells could not potentially infect anything. Except for its self-regeneration systems - which they fully expect to cease once its backup power runs out - the thing seemed to be offline. It was not an immediate threat to anyone right now.

"That's what we thought the last two times," Rain interrupted, "and just look what happened! It's playing possum! I hope you guys take that thing apart, cell by cell. And as soon as possible!"

Dr. Kasshu looked rather guilty and broke eye contact. Karato looked even more nervous. Domon started rubbing his temple with his free hand.

Rain felt her stomach drop. "You _are_ planning on getting rid of it, right?" she asked.

"Well yes, we _are_ planning on disposing of the Dark Gundam," Karato tried to assure her. "...Eventually."

"'Eventually'? What does that mean?!" Rain felt her anger rising.

Domon finally let out a loud, frustrated groan. "They're not," he answered her. "And even worse, they're bringing it down here!"

"WHAT?!" Rain let go of her boyfriend's hand and jumped out of her seat. The guards all began staring at her, but she was too furious to be embarrassed.

"Domon, do you _mind?!_ " Now it was Karato's turn to get angry. Domon just deathglared back at him as he eased Rain back into her seat. The Prime Minister then turned to Rain, and sighed again, looking guilty. "I-I can understand your concern Dr. Mikamura. Please, allow me to explain this time..."

It was true that they were not planning on destroying the remains of the Dark Gundam immediately. There had been a lot of infighting between the various politicians and top military officials, but ultimately they reached an agreement: they needed to keep it in order to find out what went wrong with it. And they needed to do it quickly, before any new technology using the Three Theoretical Abilities was developed anywhere else. Otherwise, the same malfunction might keep happening, and the 13th Gundam Fight tragedy would just replay over and over again.

But now there was a new problem: they needed a safe place to take it apart and study it. Unfortunately, all the government research facilities up at the colony had been badly damaged by the Dark Colony's tendrils. There was also some concern about the functional remains potentially contaminating and reviving all of the dead nanotech laying around. Even though the facilities on Earth were outdated due to being low priority, they were much safer than the ones at the colony.

Of course, bringing the Dark Gundam back down to Earth had its own set of concerns; what if it truly was playing dead again and got loose? What if it tried to absorb the planet again, like it tried to over a month ago? Therefore, they had to take the utmost precaution while transporting it. One of these precautions was the main reason for today's visit: they were going to give Domon access to the Burning Gundam again. He had defeated the Dark Gundam three times so far, so he was their best bet just in case it escaped. On the day that the cargo ship carrying the Dark Gundam was scheduled to arrive on Earth, he would be escorted to the hangar where the Burning Gundam was currently stored and be put on standby. He would be allowed to leave once the mechanical monster was safely secured inside a government facility. Afterward, he would still be on call until they had finally disposed of it.

Another precaution was that this operation must be kept an utmost secret. After the Dark Colony disaster, the other nations were more than a little cross with Neo Japan. They wanted to know why exactly Neo Japan felt the need to create a Gundam that was its own grey goo scenario, and they didn't exactly believe the explanation that it was originally created to restore Earth. To say tensions were high was the understatement of the year. Then there was Neo Japan's own fears that another colony may try to steal the Dark Gundam for themselves (like what the late Prime Minister Wong Yunfat tried to do) or that another rogue military officer might try to commandeer it (like what Major Ulube tried to do). Because of this, Domon and Rain could not tell their Shuffle Alliance friends about the situation; they had to keep things entirely to themselves.

"One more thing," Dr. Kasshu added, taking something out of his jacket. "This is for you, Rain."

Rain was handed a large syringe with an equally large bore needle encased in a plastic sheath. It was full of what looked like dark grey sand. The "sand" seemed to ripple and move on its own. When she tapped the barrel, the "sand" hummed softly.

"What is this, exactly?" she asked, eyeing it.

"Those are experimental anti-nanomachines," Dr. Kasshu explained. "They're designed to neutralize DG Cells. They've been successful in all of the test runs we have completed so far. However, they have a limited power supply, so only use them...in an emergency." He looked rather nervous as he spoke that last statement.

"Like if the Dark Gundam grabs me again, right?" she sneered, feeling herself get angry again. She didn't mean to take that anger out on the doctor; he had been probably dragged into this because the Dark Gundam was his creation. It was just that this was beginning to be too much!

Dr. Kasshu sighed sadly. "To be honest, yes," he replied. "In reality, the Dark Gundam can use any woman of childbearing age as its optimal core life unit. But it knows you best. During its last moments, it was fueling itself on your thoughts. There may be a chance that, if it escaped, it may target you. So we are giving you those as a precaution."

Rain grimaced, but tried to calm herself down before she spoke. "Thanks, but...again, if you want to keep me safe, you'll just get rid of that thing immediately," she said. She managed not to snap, but there was still an edge to her words that she just couldn't shake. "Or at the very _least_ get rid of its CPU so it can't plot its escape!"

"I'm very sorry Rain, but we need as much of the Dark Gundam as we can get," the doctor said. "But if it's any consolation, you're giving it a bit too much credit."

"How so?"

"You have to remember that, as dangerous as it is, the Dark Gundam is still just a machine. It's just following its corrupted programming. All of those elaborate plans were hatched by humans. It's not some criminal mastermind plotting its revenge."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Rain said, looking down at the syringe in her lap. She had her doubts; she had been part of it, after all, and it sure seemed intelligent enough. But she was getting really tired of arguing, especially when she knew it would do her no good. The looks on Karato's and Dr. Kasshu's faces told her that they, too, thought this was a bad idea, but there was nothing any of them could do about it. Some high-ranking goons from the colony wanted to keep that abomination, and that was final.

Karato and Dr. Kasshu stood up as they began to wrap up the conversation. Karato let them know that the cargo ship would be arriving on Earth the morning after tomorrow. They would come to get Domon a few hours beforehand to escort him to his Gundam. The guards began to radio each other that the visit was finished. Everyone shook hands, and the Prime Minister and doctor were escorted out of the apartment by the guards. Domon waited a few minutes, making sure they had all left the floor. Then he punched the door in rage. He had been holding back of course; if he hadn't, he would have ripped the door in half! There were still splinters where his knuckles made contact, however.

"I destroyed that thing!" he barked in a pained voice, slumping and pressing his head against the door, " _Three_ times!"

"I know, I helped destroy it the last time," Rain replied. "And they _still_ want to keep it. After what it did to the colony, the politicians and military think it's a good idea to have it around!" She rubbed her face. "What is _wrong_ with some people?"

"Maybe they're not getting rid of it because you can't," Domon said glumly, turning around and leaning against the door. "Maybe it's evolved to the point where it can't be destroyed."

"Let's...not go that far," Rain said nervously, recalling thinking the same dreadful thing a few minutes ago. "Anyway, you did a great job of keeping yourself together through the whole thing. I was getting ready to read them the riot act!"

"Trust me, I really wanted to curse out Karato more than anything," Domon said, "but then they brought my dad along. I just couldn't yell at my father, not after what he's been through. Besides, it's not like it would do any good. Neither one of them made the decision to keep the Dark Gundam, they're just the bearers of bad news."

"I'm surprised your father is even helping them. After...well, you know" Rain didn't want to go into detail.

"He's told me before it's because he feels responsible for what the Dark Gundam did," Domon replied. "It's his creation, it went rogue, so now he feels like he's got to help clean up the mess."

"I...I know the feeling," Rain stared her hands, which were still clutching the syringe. There were times she still felt guilty over her father's betrayal, despite him trying to make up for it before he died. Even now it nagged her, no thanks to today's situation. They wouldn't be having _any_ problems with the Dark Gundam today had it not been for her father. She tried to dismiss it. Nobody knew what would have happened; maybe the Gundam would have malfunctioned anyway! The guilt relented a little, but refused to completely go away.

Thankfully, Domon managed to snap her out of her funk by stepping away from the door and saying, "Guess I better start preparing, then."

"Isn't it a little early?" Rain asked, as she put the syringe on the coffee table and returned the chair to the kitchen.

"Not really," he replied. "Haven't been inside a Gundam in over a month. Hope I'm not already rusty..."

He suddenly stopped and put a hand on her shoulder. "Rain...I know this is gonna sound cliche...," he said slowly. "But we can get through this. Remember, we've been through worse."

"R-right," she nodded, her hands trembling.

Impulsively, she turned and wrapped her arms around him. She couldn't help it; she was so terrified, and needed to hold on to someone. He didn't protest, and returned the embrace. The two stood there for a minute, just holding each other, until Rain finally let go.

"...I-I'm sorry," she sputtered, fighting back tears. "I'm just...so..."

"No need to apologize, Rain," Domon said softly, holding onto her hands. "I'm pretty upset about the whole thing, too."

She let go of his hands, not because she wanted to, but because she needed to wipe her eyes. "I guess we both better start preparing, then?" she said.

"Yeah, let's go," he nodded.

They walked off in opposite directions. She headed back to the coffee table to retrieve the syringe. She needed to find a safe place to put it. While she was over there, she spied her forgotten coffee cup. Gingerly, she took a sip. It had gone cold.

* * *

Cleanup crews were still hard at work up at the colony. In addition to taking apart the main body, crews were also tasked with untangling the giant cables that had wormed their way into the cities. It seemed that the shelter domes had hardly been effective against the Dark Colony. Some of these cables had embedded themselves into the various buildings, making it next to impossible to clean them up without having to demolish all or part of those infested buildings. Therefore, to protect the good citizens of Neo Japan from falling rubble, crews had to temporarily evacuate certain parts of the cities as they worked.

It was in one of these evacuated areas that a suspicious figure was cautiously leaping from rooftop to rooftop. He was completely covered in a long overcoat, his face hidden under a scarf and a wide-brimmed hat. He kept peering over the edges of buildings to make sure the military personnel down below would not see him jumping around. After he made a leap, he would immediately take cover by doors or vents and make sure no aircraft or mobile suits were watching him from the sky.

He slowly but surely made his way to the roof of a software company known as Colony Dynamic Systems. Despite its English name, it was a purely Neo Japanese company that was founded about ten years ago. After scanning the skies for a few minutes, he walked over to the rooftop access hatch. Surprisingly, it wasn't locked. The maintenance crew was probably so quick to evacuate, that they forgot about it.

The stranger entered the hatch and stepped down a metal staircase. His footsteps were very heavy, and his feet clanged against the steps as if they, too, were made of steel. The staircase led down to a small maintenance room with a door on the other side. The door led to wide office space. He stepped out and scanned the various desks, cubicles, drawers, tables, and walls for anything that might look like a floor plan or a directory. He needed to find the main security office, as he had no doubt he would need to disable a few systems and checkpoints that would be guarding his quarry. He would also need to erase the footage of his visit, as he had no doubt the security cameras were still active and watching his every move.

He finally found a directory in a large binder on an employee's desk. It told him that the security office was on the ground floor. He headed over to the elevators, which had been deactivated due to the evacuation. Thankfully, there was a reset keyhole right under the button.

He took off his right glove, revealing a silver-white mechanical hand covered in small hexagonal patterns. His fingers ended in sharp metal talons. He pressed one of these claws up against the keyhole, and with a quiet slurping noise, it changed its shape to fit inside. He turned his hand to the "ON" position, resetting the elevator. He removed his finger, put his glove back on, and pressed the button which dutifully it up. He then rode the elevator down to the ground floor.

Once he had arrived, he cautiously crept around, avoiding windows as he searched for the security office. When he found it, he wound up having to unlock the door with his finger first. As he walked in, he immediately saw a wall of surveillance monitors, all of which were still recording. Yes, he'd have to take care of that. But first, he had something more important to do. He switched on the nearest convenient computer, hoping it had the information he needed.

After the computer finished booting itself up, the stranger gave it a sharp glare. Instantly, hundreds of windows popped up, flashing images and text before closing or moving on to something else. Finally, two documents appeared on screen. One was a directory telling him where the "sensitive" decommissioned projects were: the second basement. The other was from an inventory system which told him exactly where his target was placed within that basement.

The documents closed themselves as he brought up another program - the program that controlled access within the building. The elevator to the second basement required special clearance, so he made sure to disable it. He also disabled the checkpoints down inside the basement itself. He then brought up the controls for the surveillance cameras. He erased all footage of his visit as well as turned all of the cameras off. Next to him, the wall of monitors went black all at once. Nicely done.

He left the office and headed off to an obscured corner of the building. The elevator to the basements was hidden back here, off by itself. With the security systems disabled, he was able to ride it down like a normal elevator. Upon arrival, the stranger found that the second basement looked like a very large warehouse. There were rows and rows of shelves full of strange gadgets and pieces of computer hardware. This was where Colony Dynamic Systems kept all of its decommissioned or failed projects. What he was looking for was their classified projects - ones that had been created for government use.

He recalled that this company had a few government contracts in the past, but there had been one project he was interested in particular. Its working title was the "Zoning and Emotional Range Omitted" (ZERO) System, and it was a mobile suit interface program. It had many different functions, one of which decreased a pilot's reaction time. However, its main attraction was that it would quickly calculate and predict its opponent's next moves based on battle data and the current situation. To put it in layman's terms, it was a "psychic" program. It was thought to be the very next major breakthrough in mobile suit technology - until the tests produced disastrous results and it was abruptly cancelled.

The stranger came upon a heavy steel door in the back of the warehouse. Beyond it was the decommissioned government projects he was looking for. Normally, a special key card was needed to open it, but he disabled that a few minutes ago. Instead, it automatically slid open for him, and he nonchalantly stepped inside. It was a smaller storage space filled with more pieces of hardware and file cabinets containing software.

He found his target inside a small box in a file cabinet. It contained a single SD card. He removed his glove and placed the card in the middle of his palm. The hexagonal scales of his hand twitched and crawled around as they enveloped the card. The stranger stared into space for a moment as he downloaded the program and attempted to install it into his CPU. The installation seemed to work, which was a relief, as he wasn't sure it was even going to be compatible with his systems.

The reason why this program had been cancelled was because it had a bad habit of driving its users insane. All of its test pilots had eventually suffered severe mental breakdowns or even brain damage. The human brain simply could not handle all the information that the ZERO system would feed it. But he was not human, not anymore. He wasn't even technically alive. He had a CPU that was capable of processing all those calculations. But how well would the system work for him? That he'd have to judge for himself.

He removed the card from his hand and placed it back in the box. He then left the basement and rode back up to the ground floor. As he walked back to the elevators, an idea suddenly dawned on him. Why not have a little test run of his shiny new battle system?

He cautiously walked around to the front entrance, staying up against the walls and in the shadows so he wouldn't be seen. Very carefully, he peered outside the front windows. He saw two armed guards standing around outside the revolving door, as well as a dozen or so workers digging up rotten cables out of the street with jackhammers. He then called up the ZERO system and inquired what exactly would happen if he simply walked out the front door.

A second later, the system finished calculating every person's possible reactions and brought up the most likely outcome. Naturally, it said that he would be instantly spotted and apprehended by the two guards. Very good, but now for a harder question. He asked it if he could walk out the front door and successfully escape. The system took a few seconds to calculate these new parameters, taking into account everyone's reactions, his reactions, and everyone's physical abilities. Its result was that he would still be instantly spotted, but that he could easily overwhelm the guards and escape in any direction before anyone called for backup.

He smiled to himself. Yes, he was satisfied with the system so far - and he wasn't even getting so much as a headache! However, he did not wish to be seen at all, so it looked like he would have to go back up to the rooftops.

After this came the next step of his plan, and a much more difficult one at that - tracking down those last functioning remains of the Dark Gundam that the military had taken into custody last week. His DG Cells were damaged, and he needed to replace them...

* * *

Rain found herself waking up in the middle of the night with a splitting headache. She tried to see if she could just go back to sleep, but it was no use; her head hurt too much. She reluctantly got out of bed, careful not to wake up Domon next to her. Then she groggily staggered into the bathroom for some aspirin.

After taking the pills, she also took an extra long drink of water. She was cold, too; this time she felt cold all over. However, she was too tired and in too much pain to care much about that. She began to shuffle back to her room when she spotted something out of the corner of her eye. Down the hallway in the darkened living room, she saw a tall shadow. A quick look revealed it to be the silhouette of a man. _Somebody had broken into their apartment!_

No longer tired, Rain instantly leaped back into the bathroom, closed the door, and locked it. She put her ear to the door, listening for any movement. She didn't hear anything. She needed to get back out there and get Domon out of bed; he could easily fight them off!

A sneer crossed her lips. No, forget Domon; let him sleep! _She_ would take care of this punk! She was still aggravated over yesterday's bad news, and felt like taking her anger out on that intruder. She stepped over to the bathroom closet and whipped open the door. Besides the toiletries, there was also a small box of tools inside - one of which was a big, heavy pipe wrench! She grabbed the wrench, then unlocked and opened the bathroom door. Rain pressed her back against the wall and waited for the bastard to walk by so she could give him a nice hard conk on the noggin.

She found herself waiting for about five minutes. Nobody walked by. Where was this guy? Did she scare him off accidentally? No, it wouldn't be that easy, would it?

Pipe wrench ready, she peeked out into the hallway. She couldn't see anyone in the living room now. Of course, she was at an odd angle, and couldn't see the whole room from here. The guy could be hiding around the corner, or in the kitchen.

She cautiously stepped out of the bathroom, wielding her wrench like a sword. Before she could even turn to walk down the hallway, she saw a tall man materialize out of thin air beside her, blocking her way back to the bedroom! Rain let out a surprised gasp. Why she didn't scream, she wasn't sure, but she was glad she didn't. She turned to the guy, and immediately raised the pipe wrench high above her head to give them the beating of a lifetime.

And then she saw who he was. The familiar dark brown eyes, the face that looked a lot like Domon's, the tousled black hair with the distinct sideburns...he was even wearing his last outfit of a dark blue jacket and black pants with a lavender shirt. Rain's jaw dropped and she slowly lowered her arms in disbelief. The wrench slid out of her hand and landed with a soft thud on the floor.

"Kee...Kyoji?" she whispered.

"Yes Rain, it's me," the ghostly man said. Even his voice was the same.

"But...you're supposed to be..."

"Dead? I know," he replied. His face then darkened. "Listen Rain, I don't have time to explain. I have something very important to tell you. The Dark Gundam is still online! Right now it's trying to-"

He suddenly cut himself off as he looked up at something behind Rain. Whatever it was, he looked horrified - his eyes were wide and his jaw was slack. She turned around to look, and found that her living room had suddenly vanished. In its place was a large body of water with a black void for a sky. Upon closer inspection, the "water" was actually metallic and reflective - it was that ocean of liquid silver that she dreamed about awhile ago.

"I'm too late...it's already here!" Kyoji cried. "Quickly Rain, you've got to get out of its range!" He reached out to pull her away, but his hands kept passing right through her shoulders.

Rain was about to ask him what he meant when she felt the temperature drop by ten degrees. She started to shiver, and her breath became visible. The silver ocean, meanwhile, began to bubble. Bulges appeared on its surface that rapidly grew bigger and taller. Something was rising from its slimy depths.

Some of the figures emerging from its surface grew massive, while other remained human-sized. The biggest figures began to develop mechanical features and details, and eventually revealing themselves to be all Gundams - ones that she was unfortunately familiar with. The one in dead center was a Gundam with massive shoulders covered in round vents, and an extra set of arms protruding from its back. It had a thin spine that connected to a larger Gundam's head - it was the Dark Gundam itself. Surrounding it was its "Four Kings." The ones she immediately recognized were the bat-eared Master Gundam and the toothy, bizarre-looking Walter Gundam that she had the displeasure of fighting once. The other two were Gundams that she didn't know the names of, but she swore she saw them somewhere before: a bird-like mech with a tall, pointy helmet, and a giant, tank-like mobile suit with huge horns on its back.

The human-sized figures all became people who were associated with the Dark Gundam besides Kyoji. She spotted Master Asia, Prime Minister Wong, and Major Ulube up in front. She also saw Michelo Chariot with them, as Domon had told her before that he had been infected with DG Cells, too. She also saw silver versions of Allenby, Saette, and Chapman, even though none of them willingly sided with the mechanical monster. And then there was a handful of other people that she didn't recognize at all - just how many people did the Dark Gundam infect?!

"Rain, RUN!" Kyoji shouted.

He didn't need to tell her twice! But before she could even move, all of the silvery Gundams and humans lunged at her at once, their gooey arms outstretched and ready to grab her. A loud, distorted, deep voice seemed to scream at her from all sides.

 **COME** ** _HERE!_**

Rain screamed and ran in the other direction. She only made it about two feet before crashing into something warm and solid. She lost her footing and fell flat on her back.

"Rain! Are you okay?!" a familiar voice called to her.

She sat up to find Domon crouching beside her. Still frightened, she quickly looked behind her. Nothing. No ocean of liquid metal, no malevolent Gundams or corrupted humans trying to get her. The darkened living room was back where it was. Kyoji was gone, too. She had been hallucinating again!

"I, uh...I'm okay," she answered. "I think I was sleepwalking!"

"...Sleepwalking?" Domon asked.

"Well, I woke up with a headache," Rain explained. "So I went to the bathroom to take some aspirin, and the next thing I know, I had some sort of nightmare!"

"Let me guess...it was about the Dark Gundam?" Domon said as he extended a hand to help her stand up.

She took his hand, got back on her feet. "Yes," she sighed.

"I'm surprised I'm not having bad dreams about it either," he said, still holding her hands.

"I didn't hurt you when I bumped into you, did I?" she asked, feeling embarrassed.

Domon just snickered. "Ah, don't worry about me," he told her, smiling. "Let's just go back to bed, okay? If you have another bad dream, I'll just wake you up!"

She nodded, and they headed back into the bedroom. She wasn't sure how she was going to be able to go back to sleep after all of that, however. She decided she wasn't going to tell Domon that the nightmare involved his late brother; they both had a bad day, no need to make it worse.

Despite the fact that he had only been a figment of her subconsciousness, Rain found herself agreeing with Kyoji. The Dark Gundam was still online. And it would be coming for her.


	3. The Darkness Beckons

**Disclaimer:** _Mobile Fighter G Gundam_ is owned by Bandai and Sunrise. I just write about it in my spare time.

 **Author's Note:** Many thanks to ALittleSalty1 for some help with this chapter.

 **On the Dark Side**  
 **Chapter 3: Temptation! The Darkness Beckons!**

After searching for nearly a day, the stranger finally managed to pinpoint which government facility was hiding the coveted Dark Gundam. He knew which radio frequencies the military tended to use, so he used his own internal radio to listen in. Naturally, everything was described in code, but he was also familiar with a lot of the code words and numbers. After listening in for several hours, someone uttered the English phrase, "Lassie with the Classy Chassis." That was the code word for the Dark Gundam - he was in business!

He tuned in to what they were saying about it. He found out that the base where it was currently being kept was actually pretty far from his current position - probably about a six hour drive from the shelter that Colony Dynamics Systems was located in. He also learned that they were about to ship the Dark Gundam back to Earth for some reason. He wasn't quite sure why, but if he had to guess, he'd say it had something to do with the fact that the colony had been completely trashed, and they had no other choice. The problem was, he'd never make it in time; the facility was six hours away, and they were getting ready to ship it in four.

Consulting the ZERO system told him that he could get there a lot faster by mobile suit, possibly within the four hours if there were no mishaps. He looked around from the rooftop he was currently on, and spied a nearby unused Nobusshi parked on a side street. There weren't a lot of people around, so it looked safe to take. Just to be sure, he asked the ZERO system again. It told him to wait about three minutes - it calculated that the few people hanging around down in the street would eventually leave, and no one would see him get in. He patiently waited the three minutes, and sure enough, the street was eventually deserted.

He leaped off the rooftop and landed on the sidewalk next to the Nobusshi, his feet leaving cracks in the pavement. He took another leap right into the opened cockpit of the mobile suit and strapped himself in. He then flew north as fast as the suit would take him to the destined base.

Unfortunately for him, he was still too late. Just as he arrived on the scene, he saw the cargo ship taking off in the base's spaceport with a large entourage of armed mobile weapons. He cursed to himself - perhaps his ZERO system wasn't as foolproof as he thought.

Perhaps he could fly after them, sneak into the entourage, and blend in? No, he was in an unarmed construction mobile suit - they'd notice him immediately. Besides, this thing was probably not built for atmosphere re-entry anyway. He then decided to see if the ZERO system could redeem itself, and asked it how to catch up to that cargo ship.

It told him that it could, but he would have to act fast. He didn't particularly like acting fast; he liked to take his time to weave his elaborate plans. Unfortunately, he didn't have a choice right now - if he wanted to get at the Dark Gundam, he would have to do things on the fly.

He abandoned his mobile suit a safe distance away, and made his way into a small grove of trees. The system told him that the first order of business was to get inside the base and then into a hangar full of military-grade mobile suits. The hangar was tucked away in a corner, not too far away from this grove. He knew of a way he might be able to get in over there without being seen.

The stranger reached the base's wall, which was about fifteen feet high and made of fortified concrete. Its top was lined with barbed wire, and there were revolving cameras every few feet. There was one placed right on corner, too. Staying in the cameras' blind spots, he climbed up the tree nearest to the corner. However, he couldn't go any further than this and not be spotted. Meanwhile, the camera was still about ten feet away; way too far to take out without some sort of projectile weapon such as a gun or laser.

Or perhaps an extendable arm. His right arm twitched and bulged as he commanded it to reach out and shove the camera away. His forearm burst forth on green cables and forcefully knocked the camera off its hinges, making it point straight up and stopping it from moving. His DG Cells began to give him error messages as he retracted the arm. He hoped he didn't have to do that a lot; that took a lot out of him, and he needed his strength.

With the camera out of his way, he leaped over the fence and quickly disappeared into the shadows. He carefully made his way over to the hangar, moving when the ZERO system told him it was safe.

The hangar was lightly guarded at the moment, due to most of the security forces on this base focusing on transporting the Dark Gundam. There were a few guards at the entrance in his way, but they were easily taken care of. He created a simple distraction by tossing a rock over their heads. When they got curious, he sneaked up on them from behind and smacked them both upside the head with a cybernetic fist. They were both out cold before they even knew what was going on. He dragged their unconscious bodies inside the hangar with him, so as not to immediately attract unwanted attention. He still had to move fast, however; pretty soon, someone would realize the guards were gone and get curious.

After tossing the guards aside, the stranger slipped his way through the shadows of the hangar, avoiding cameras or taking them out when there was no way around them. He made his way down to where the mobile suits were kept. He found a dozen or so Busshi down there, and a couple of Fantomas. Not a lot, but he would be needing all of them.

Now came the tough part: he was going to hijack each one of them by infecting them with his DG Cells. Then he was going to link them all to his CPU in a sort of neural network. Both of those things he had never done before; he really hoped his mind and body could handle it!

The stranger leaped from cockpit to cockpit, tearing off small pieces of himself and placing them inside the mobile suits' main computer system. It took longer than he liked. His self-replication ability had been damaged, so his DG Cells were a bit slow on the uptake. He was also only capable of infecting small areas and objects. Infecting these suits' motherboards was no big deal, but infecting the entire mobile suit was out of the question. He was just glad he could still infect anything at all - he wasn't sure what he would do if his DG Cell completely failed to take!

Once the task was finished, he strapped himself into the nearest mobile suit, which happened to be a Busshi. He then sent out a search signal from his CPU, trying to connect the other infected suits to himself. He felt a bit of a strain as his "consciousness" suddenly expanded. He felt a sort of phantom pain in his processor...his equivalent of a headache?

Now came another tricky part: he needed to march them all out of here and take off after that cargo ship. It was tricky because there was absolutely no way to do that without being spotted. He consulted his ZERO system just in case, but it just confirmed what he already knew. There was just no way to steal a small squadron of mobile suits from a military base and not have at least one person notice. But, he calculated that if he could do it fast enough, no one would have enough time to retaliate.

The stranger took a moment to focus on his new hive mind, then gave them all the command to activate, grab their beam rifles (if they had them), and leave the hangar. Their optics lit up as they obeyed. He felt his mind and body slow down a bit from strain as they all began to move in two neat lines. Once they were outside, he gave them the orders to fly after the cargo ship, supplying them with the general route and an image of what the ship and its entourage looked like. One by one, they took to the sky with him bringing up the rear.

Needless to say, the personnel at the base were not happy to suddenly see a small handful of mobile suits just randomly take off like that. He was hardly a few thousand feet in the air before he received angry transmission asking who he was and what did he think he was doing. He tried feeding them a line, saying he was part of the cargo ship's entourage. There was some sort of miscommunication, and they didn't receive orders to take off until _after_ the ship already left. The lady on the radio actually seemed take his answer into consideration. But it would probably take her about two minutes to realize he was making things up, so he cut off his communications link.

He then made his network fly ahead at full speed, not only to put some distance behind him, but to try and catch up to that ship. He wondered if he could apply the ZERO system to his drones as well. He'd probably find out soon enough.

* * *

It wasn't going to end well, was it? The thought nagged Rain all day.

She awoke very early that morning when Karato and a few agents came to get Domon. She decided to go back to sleep after he left. So she crawled back into bed, closed her eyes, and waited for sleep to come.

She waited. And waited. And waited.

She tried not to think about the ship headed to Earth or its gruesome cargo. However, the more she tried to push the thought out of her head, the more she ended up accidentally thinking about it. Scenarios in which the Dark Gundam would escape and Domon would be forced to fight it kept sneaking into her head.

She looked at the clock. 6:33. It had only been about a half an hour since Domon left. She rolled over on her other side, closed her eyes, and tried her best to relax. Tried to think soothing thoughts this time.

She laid there. And laid there. And laid there.

Her shoulder started hurting. She looked at the clock again. 6:56. She tried laying on her back. She ended up staring at the ceiling for another half an hour before she gave up and got out of bed. Perhaps it was for the best; Rain had a feeling that if she did fall asleep, she'd just have more nightmares.

She changed into her usual attire of a short magenta dress with a blue vest and round golden earrings. As she stepped into the bathroom to brush her hair, she suddenly remembered something very important. She opened up the medicine cabinet, and sitting on the bottom shelf was the sheathed syringe containing the anti-nanomachine resin that Dr. Kasshu gave her. She poked the glass to make sure they still functioned. The charcoal-colored sands rippled and hummed back in response. She put the syringe in her vest pocket...just in case. A chill ran down her spine as she really, really hoped she wouldn't have to use it for whatever reason.

Not wanting to give today's events any more thought, Rain finished fixing up her hair, then slipped on her hairband. After that, she wandered into the kitchen for some breakfast. After checking and re-checking the cabinets several times, she realized she wasn't all that hungry. She ultimately decided to make herself some toast and some coffee. She found the toast to be a chore to get through - but the coffee, at least, kept the chills away.

She went back to her room, picked her phone off from the nightstand, and checked her emails. Just some ads and a random piece of junk mail that slipped its way through the spam filter. She sat down on the bed and stared at the screen for awhile, wondering what to do. She knew she didn't want to read the news, as most of it would be about the colony's cleanup. Maybe she could play a game? It would keep her mind off of things. No, she really didn't think she could focus on a game. She looked up a few videos on cute animals, but it got a bit boring after awhile.

She put the phone back on the table and stared into space, still trying to keep out any thoughts about today's events. She stared at the carpet. You know, the floor could use some vacuuming...

Rain went to the closet, took out the vacuum, and started cleaning up the place. It seemed to work for awhile, as she was able to focus on her chore. But since the apartment really wasn't all that big, she quickly ran out of floors to vacuum. She tried to get some cobwebs off the walls and ceilings, but it wasn't long before she was done with that, too.

Well, she just needed another chore to focus on then. The dishes? She went to the kitchen and found there were only two plates in the dishwasher. Not worth it, and probably not worth it to wash by hand, either. Mop the kitchen floor? It seemed clean enough. They had just recently gone grocery shopping and done the laundry, so that was out, too.

Rain sat on the living room couch and sighed. She wondered where that cargo ship was...was it even on its way? No, no, no...she wasn't going to think about that. She decided to stave off the encroaching dread by turning on the TV. After quickly flipping past a few channels that had the news on, she found a wacky daytime game show. Currently, two teams were digging around in cream pies, trying to find some sort of object. Some of the pies were on levers which were rigged to hit them in the face when they walked up to them. Okay, this was good; she could really use a few laughs right about now.

Everything was fine and dandy until the show moved on to the next challenge. A mystery guest came out onto the stage in a costume, and contestants had to ask questions in order to guess who they were. Today's guest just so happened to be dressed in a Gundam costume. A Gundam with an extra set of horns on its head and six odd little wing-like protrusions sticking out of its back. No thanks, she didn't need to be reminded.

She changed the channel, and was now on some sort of cartoon. It was a very weird one about a man in his pajamas wandering through a swamp, trying to look for a dragon. With the way all the swamp monsters were bleeding, it didn't look like a cartoon for little kids. Well, as long as it didn't have any creepy evil robots in it, she was fine with it.

Five minutes later, however, Rain stopped paying attention to the show. She was tired, though she wasn't sleepy. And cold. She glanced at the time on the TV menu; it was almost noon. She caught herself speculating on if the cargo ship had landed already. Ugh, she needed a better distraction. Maybe she should make herself some lunch. She still wasn't very hungry, though, but some more coffee sounded nice. It would both wake her up and warm her up.

Rain stood up and sluggishly began to make her way to the kitchen, but then a sudden drop in the temperature of the room stopped her in her tracks. She had to lean against a wall as she steadied herself from all the shivering - half of it out of fear. She knew this feeling...she felt it two days ago. It got very cold just before...

She suddenly heard the sound of surf and felt icy liquid flow over her feet and ankles. She yelped in surprise and jumped away. The silvery waves retreated back into her now darkened living room before completely disappearing. To her horror, she looked down at her feet and saw that they were now covered in an all too familiar metal coating. Quickly she bent over to pull it off of her, but her fingers went right through it. It wasn't actually there - this was yet another hallucination.

Her fear began to subside into irritation. This was the third time in two weeks; these hallucinations were really getting out of hand. This was probably brought on by her lack of sleep. Then again, she's had sleepless nights before and didn't see oceans of metal try to drag her into their depths. She was really going to have to see a doctor about this. In fact, maybe she'd make the appointment right now!

But just as she was about to go retrieve her phone from the bedroom, the world around her darkened until it was almost as black as night. She began to hear the whispers and laughter of people behind her, as well as the deep rumble of enormous engines idling.

She knew exactly who it was behind her, but she was not going to play their game. They didn't exist, anyway - they were all just figments of her traumatized imagination. First, she tried rubbing her eyes. Nothing changed, everything was still dark, and she could still hear her unwanted "house guests." She rubbed then harder. Nothing. She pinched her cheek. No change. She flat out slapped herself. That did nothing except make the nightmare creatures laugh at her.

"Shut up!" she yelled over her shoulder, trying not to look at them. "Go bother somebody else, why don'tcha?!"

It was time to bring out the big guns - she was going to go to the kitchen sink and splash her face with water. The sink was only a few feet away, so she shouldn't have too much trouble feeling for it in the gloom. But before she could even take a single step forward, a pillar of liquid silver began to rise up in front of her. She yelped and stepped back. Even though she could barely make out the details of her own home in this illusory darkness, she could see the metal ooze just fine for some reason.

The sludge rapidly formed a humanoid figure, and then turned itself into a completely-silver version of Michelo Chariot. Though his head and face were perfectly formed, the rest of his metal body was featureless. He loomed over her with his hands on his hips and a greasy grin on his face.

"What's wrong, pretty lady?" he mockingly squawked at her in a metallic voice. "Don'tcha ya wanna say hi to us?!"

Rain's aggravation turned into rage. "No, I don't!" she shouted. "Now go away!"

With that, she hauled off and punched the metal Gundam fighter right in the jaw, causing him to splatter everywhere - all over the floor, the walls, and the kitchen chairs. She was really glad he wasn't real, or else this would have been a huge mess! Some of the silver stuck to her fingers, and quickly spread to encase her whole right hand. She knew it was just a hallucination, but found it disturbing anyway.

"You're...you're no fun!" Michelo's disembodied lips said from a puddle on the kitchen floor.

"Yeah, quit being such a spoilsport!" a metallic, but familiar female voice said next to her.

Rain nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw a silver Allenby sitting in the middle of her kitchen table. Her unkempt hair, wild eyes, and psychotic smile told her she was supposed to be in her berserk state. Like Michelo, her head displayed perfect details, but not her body. There was a bow-shaped lump on her chest, implying that she was supposed to be wearing her fightsuit. She was crouched on all fours like she was ready to pounce.

"We're not here to cause trouble. We just wanna talk to you, is all!" she gave Rain a big shiny grin that made her look like she wanted jump off the table and gnaw her face off with those metal teeth.

Rain quickly got over her shock and went back to being angry at the waking nightmare. "Well I don't wanna talk to you!" she shouted. She wanted to slug the fake Allenby, but hesitated. It was easy to punch out Michelo, as he had tried to kill both her and Domon several times, and wasn't above taking little girls hostage. She would have liked to have done it even if he was real! But Allenby was a friend. Yes, she fought the real thing before, but only because she had to. She kept trying to remind herself that this was an impostor (who wasn't actually there anyway), but to no avail.

Thankfully, she didn't need to. Another familiar figure without a speck of silver on him emerged from the shadows and unceremoniously shoved the steel Allenby off the table. She fell to the floor, and like Michelo, she splattered liquid metal everywhere.

"Don't you know it's rude to put your feet on the table?!" Kyoji scolded the silver puddles.

"Kyoji! You're here!" Rain didn't care that he was also an illusion, too. She was so relieved to finally see someone who wasn't a metal monster.

"Listen Rain, the Dark Gundam is trying to give you orders over its network!" the ghost said, his voice urgent. "You need to-"

Kyoji was abruptly silenced when a metallic sash shot out and wrapped itself around his mouth, neck, and shoulders. He was yanked into the next room by superhuman force.

"That's enough out of you, traitor!" a tinny, gruff man's voice said in the darkness. "You oughtta be deleted for this!"

Rain was forced to look into her living room. Like two nights ago, the room seemed to have completely disappeared and replaced by a lake of liquid metal with a black sky. Completely silver versions of the Dark Gundam, its Four Kings, and all the humans that were voluntarily or involuntarily associated with it were all rising up out of the metallic ooze. Near her, a silver Master Asia had Kyoji tied up with his sash and had him face down in the slime with a foot on his back. Unlike the first two metal doppelgangers, he actually had the outlines of clothing on his body.

The metal Master looked up from his prisoner and turned to Rain with a stern look on his face. "We've got something very important to tell you," he told her in a threatening voice. "It would do you good to listen!"

Both the humans and the Gundams moved aside as the Dark Gundam began to lean over. It slowly lowered itself the best it could to Rain's eye level, its massive silver head inches from her face.

"Come back to us, Rain Mikamura. You belong with us," the Gundam spoke in a deep, purring female voice. Rain immediately recognized the voice as a distorted version of her own.

Its minions chimed in, encouraging her to join them again. This hallucination must have been really wearing her down, because she felt sleepy all of a sudden. However, her sleepiness couldn't stop her resurging anger.

"Get lost! I wouldn't join you in a million years!" she barked. "None of you are even real! One good splash of water in my face, and you'll all be gone!"

She turned around to go find the sink again, only to find Michelo and Allenby standing directly behind her, blocking her path. They must have reformed themselves. Well, no problem, she'll just walk right through them. They weren't actually there! But just as she tried to pass, they both shoved her back. Their hands went through her, but the sudden cold sting she felt in her chest was real.

"What the hell? That hurt!" she cried.

"We need you, Rain Mikamura," the Dark Gundam continued. "We cannot do this without you. Please reconsider and join us again."

Rain didn't know why, but with every word the Gundam said, she was getting sleepier and sleepier. She really wanted to just go to bed, but she afraid to do it when she was already in the middle of a nightmare.

"Snap out of it, Rain!" she heard Kyoji shout in the distance. He somehow managed to untangle his face from Master Asia's scarf. "The Dark Gundam is trying to hypn-" He was silenced again when the silver Master shoved his face back in the sludge by stomping on the back of his head.

Rain looked at him with bleary eyes. She wanted to help him, but she was so tired, she didn't know if she would be able to. Groggy, she trudged over to the false Master Asia and Kyoji. Finding herself becoming intimidated by the death glare of Domon's former mentor, she reminded herself that he was _fake_ ; unlike the real thing, this guy would go down in one punch. But before she could even make a fist, the silver Master lightly pushed her away with one hand. Rain felt another icy sting where his hand went through her shoulder and recoiled in pain. She tripped over her own feet and hit her back against something hard, possibly a chair or the kitchen table.

"And just where do you think _you're_ going?" the metallic Undefeated of the East sneered at her.

As Rain struggled to stand back up, Allenby and Michelo grabbed her by either arm, pretending to help her to her feet. Their freezing touch sent waves of pain through her body.

"You look sooooo tired, Rain," the scruffy, berserk Allenby jeered at her.

"Yeah, maybe you better go lie down!" Michelo cackled. "You don't wanna pass out in the floor, do ya?"

"No...let me go...," Rain tried to shout at them, but it came out a tired mutter.

She pulled herself out of their grasp, which was rather easy as they were only illusions. But as soon as she got away from them, she found herself in the frozen clutches of a dozen more silver hands. The metal humans were crowding around her on all sides, using their painful touch to push her toward the Dark Gundam. Some of them would whisper, "Come with us," or "Join us," in her ear as they herded her into the living room.

"Go away!" she sputtered. "L-leave me alone!"

They ignored her, of course, and kept shoving. She had nowhere to run, as they had her surrounded. She tried to fight her way through them, but merely touching them caused her to feel cold pinpricks everywhere. Pinpricks that drained her energy with every sting. She began to feel lightheaded, and her vision became blurry. Eventually, her legs gave out and she fell to her knees.

The pushing stopped. The steely waves were inches away from her legs. In her haze, Rain suddenly became aware of someone holding out their hand to her. She looked up, fully expecting to find another enemy or corrupted friend about to drag her into metal slime. She let out a small gasp when she saw who it was.

"...Saette?"

The metallic man nodded. She briefly remembered seeing him in her last hallucination, so it would make sense that he'd be here too. She watched as he knelt down next to her, his arm still extended.

"Yes, it's me, Rain," he answered. "You trust me don't you?"

Rain was so tired, she didn't know how to answer that. On one hand, she shouldn't. Like the others, he was completely silver - he was fake. But unlike the others, his body had more detail. She saw the outlines and folds of the suit he had on when she was reunited with him a year ago. He wasn't in his berserk state, either. His hair remained neatly combed, and he smiled softly at her instead of leering. He looked the most human out of all of them, and he was the only one being nice to her besides Kyoji. He seemed like he wanted to help rather than poke and prod her into something she didn't want to do.

She tried to take his hand, but it went right through her. It felt cool rather than blistering cold. She slowly got to her feet on her own, swaying from exhaustion. The metal Saette pretended to help steady her by putting a ghostly arm around her shoulders.

"Easy does it, now," he told her. "Are you going to be alright?"

"Maybe. I wish I wasn't seeing things right now," she mumbled softly as she glanced around at all the onlookers, both human and machine. They were all staring at her with great anticipation in their grey eyes.

"You're obviously tired, so let's get you some sleep," the silver Saette said. "It's hard to see, but there's a chair right over there." Unfortunately, he was pointing to a spot that was right on the other side of the Dark Gundam and its Four Kings. But that was okay, none of them were real, right?

"But what about Kyoji?" Rain asked. "I-I have to save him." She glanced through the crowd, but she couldn't find him nor Master Asia.

"Don't worry about him, he'll be fine!" Saette reassured her. "Come now, let's get some rest."

He stepped into the next room, wading right into the liquid metal. He stopped and reached out to Rain, as if inviting her in. The Dark Gundam in front of them seemed to understand as it backed away, giving them some space.

Rain hesitated for a long time before she finally came to the conclusion that the creepy lake wasn't really there and followed Saette into it. For a moment, she thought she felt something cool touch her ankles. She saw the silver climb up her legs and completely coat her body, just like the Dark Colony did to her before. This time, however, she was too tired to care. Besides, it wasn't real anyway; if it had been, it would have glued her eyes shut again.

As Saette guided her through the water, she tried to ignore the cheers from the metal people and deep rumbling from the Gundams that almost sounded like laughter. She thought she heard Kyoji scream, "Rain, no!" far in the distance. The Dark Gundam leaned in front of her again, opening its chestplates to allow her inside its cockpit. As if in a trance, she walked right in. She was only vaguely aware that Saette was no longer with her.

Rain was in complete darkness now, but she kept wandering forward. She eventually bumped into something. Was it the chair? She couldn't see anything at first. Eventually, she thought she could make out the outlines of thick cables and wires. Well, whatever it was, if she could lay down on it, that's what she was going to do. She felt around in the dark for a bit before sitting down and laying back. She remembered feeling freezing winds nip at her cheeks before she fell asleep, covered in the cold silver.

* * *

Rain was correct that the silver people and Gundams were not actually there. All that time, she had been staring, yelling, and taking swings at nothing. It ended with her falling asleep in a recliner chair.

The effects of the hallucination, however, were very real. Rain did not stay asleep for long. After a few minutes, her eyes fluttered back open, though they were glazed over. In a daze, she got up from her chair, grabbed her car keys, and left the apartment. She slowly staggered down the hallway toward the elevator. Mr. Watanabe was exiting just as she was entering.

"Why hey there, Miz Mikamura!" he greeted her. "How you doin'? You look a little tired."

She didn't answer. She stepped inside the elevator and pressed the button for the ground floor.

"Miz Mikamura? You okay?" Mr. Watanabe asked.

She still didn't answer as the door closed. That was weird. Too weird. Mr. Watanabe found himself growing concerned. Miss Mikamura almost always greeted you back, even if she was in a hurry. And that look on her face...she looked like she was half asleep!

Maybe she _was_ asleep? He heard about people doing strange things while sleepwalking. But he also heard it was dangerous to wake a sleepwalker...if that's what she was actually doing. He wondered if he could get a hold of that boyfriend of hers. He might know what's going on!

Meanwhile, down in the parking lot, Rain got into her car, still in a trance. She drove off, heading toward the nearest expressway. She needed to get to the drop off point of the cargo ship that was carrying the Dark Gundam.


	4. The Darkness Reborn Once Again

**Disclaimer:** _Mobile Fighter G Gundam_ is owned by Bandai and Sunrise. I just write about it in my spare time.

 **On the Dark Side  
Chapter 4: Disaster! The Darkness Reborn Once Again!**

Everything seemed to be going well, at least at the moment. That's was the crew of the cargo ship transporting the Dark Gundam nervously thought to themselves.

The take off had all gone according to plan. So far, the trip to Earth was uneventful. However, everyone was on pins and needles anyway simply due to the nature of their gruesome cargo.

Right at the moment, it wasn't doing anything. It was just lying around in its "cage" of energy barriers, its severed arms piled next to it, and its mouth hanging wide open. But they all knew better than that; since last week, more of the smaller cracks in its armor had been sealed up. This thing was still trying to regenerate. Besides, the last time it had been in a cargo ship because it was seemingly offline, it ended up devouring an entire colony - and almost had the planet for dessert!

Therefore, everyone was being extra cautious around this thing. The floor of its cage was another energy barrier, as they knew its DG Cells could eat through normal floors. The cargo hold itself was unmanned, just so if the thing broke free, it couldn't immediately grab a new core life unit. And to be extra careful, there were no female personnel on board, as they knew that it was stronger with a woman as its core. There were extra barrier generators inside the cargo hold, just in case its cage failed. If it kept breaking free, lead partitions would come down, and an automated launcher would fire EMP grenades at it. And if _that_ didn't work, the cargo hold could be jettisoned so that the freed Dark Gundam couldn't get to Earth again.

Despite the fail safes, many of the crew felt they'd be much safer if the thing had been destroyed the second they found it. Still, orders were orders. Maybe they were bringing it to Earth to be destroyed.

As they approached Earth, they stood by for a scheduled mobile suit count. Early in the mission, they received an urgent transmission that thirteen Busshi and two Fantomas had been stolen from the base only a few minutes after takeoff. They were claiming to be part of the cargo ship's entourage before going silent. A quick count of the entourage revealed no mysterious extra mobile suits. Just to be on the safe side, they would recount the entourage every thirty minutes or so, just to check and make sure that no one would sneak in during the trip.

Rumors were circulating that it was space pirates. After all, a big-time Neo Russian space pirate had escaped right after the last Gundam Fight. Maybe it was him? Others argued that it was an inside job. After all, the mobile suits were stolen right off the base; space pirates would just attack using their own ships. It might be another Major Ulube wannabe.

Whatever the case, the ship managed to reach Earth with no problems. The Busshi pilots put up their heat shields, preparing for re-entry.

But just before they reached the atmosphere, the cargo ship was suddenly fired upon. A lone beam struck them at an angle from above. The good news was that it didn't hit the cargo hold. The bad news was that it damaged the hull enough that they might have to make an emergency landing. The rear cannons were readied to fire back, but they couldn't pinpoint the location of their assailant. They seemed to know where to hide to be just out of reach of their radar. Besides, they had already begun to re-enter; firing the cannons could potentially overheat the ship and cause them to burn up, especially since they were already damaged.

During re-entry, their attackers also began to pick off some of the Busshi. Since they couldn't let go of their heat shields without burning up, they were sitting ducks. The fighter ships attempted to fire back in the general direction that the beams were coming from, but it didn't look like they hit anything. As long as these cowards stayed out of sight, there wasn't much they could do.

Their assailants paused their attack, allowing cargo ship to re-enter safely. Re-entry caused extra damage to the hull, and they were definitely going to need to make an emergency landing. The crew immediately radioed that they had been attacked, and they were not going to make it to the drop off point. There was a large, empty field about ninety kilometers away from their original destination that they were going to try to land in.

Just as they were about to request backup, more beams started raining down. One of them struck the back of the cargo ship, cutting their SOS short. Another struck a fighter ship right through the middle, causing it to explode. The enemy must have finished re-entry themselves. They were also bold enough to finally show themselves on radar. They consisted of a group of fifteen mobile suits - maybe the ones that were stolen earlier?

The entourage immediately began to fire back. Even with their diminished numbers, it shouldn't be too hard to take out a small squad of fifteen mobile suits, right? Apparently, it was. For some reason, these guys seemed to know exactly when they'd be fired at and immediately got out of the way. They also seemed to know exactly where the members of the entourage were going to position themselves and took them out just as they moved. It was like they were all psychics, or something! They were only able to take out one of those infernal things, and it seemed like a miracle that they did!

Pretty soon, the remaining fighter ships had been destroyed, more mobile suits had been picked off, and the cargo ship had taken a few more direct hits. The cargo ship made a very rough landing in that empty field, tearing through trees and carving out a long, deep ditch in the ground. Large chunks of the hull tore off as they came to a complete stop. The fire extinguishing system went off, quenching any fires inside. The ship had been trashed, but the power was still working, meaning their "precious" cargo was still contained. A damage report showed that they weren't in danger of exploding either, which was always a good thing.

The captain opened a communication link and tried to tell everyone that they had landed and that they needed backup. Just as he did, the ship took several more hits to the cargo bay. The enemy had caught up with them and was coming in for the kill.

* * *

The stranger landed his Busshi a good distance away, content to let his drones finish things for him. It turned out that yes, he could extend his ZERO system to his minions. The system worked splendidly, with only one of his mobile suits lost to the fleet so far. He felt a strange phantom pain when it went down; he questioned if it was even real.

He had been a bit surprised when the ZERO system told him to attack so soon. However, a quick investigation into other strategies showed him that if he allowed the cargo ship to reach its drop-off point, the chances of getting to the Dark Gundam would be infinitesimal. So he followed the system's advice, and here they were.

He wondered what he ought to do with the Dark Gundam after his drones freed it. He was originally just going to use it to repair himself, but the thing had other useful applications. He could use it to upgrade his now mobile suits, for one thing. There was also the chance that he might need it for repairs later if he ever got badly damaged again. Plus, its remains were relatively small at the moment, and therefore easy to hide; deep networks of caves wouldn't be needed like when Master Asia was in charge of it.

However, he'd have to make sure its AI stayed offline. That thing had a mind of its own, and had a bad habit of going off and doing whatever it felt like. There was no telling how much smarter it got between the time he was knocked offline and now. He wasn't about to let the thing take him over again, no matter how useful it was.

First things first, of course; he needed to get it out of the ship. His drones were now cleaning up what was left of the fleet on the ground. He began to position some of them to go after the ship's cargo hold.

* * *

 _I need to change course._ This was the only thing Rain was capable of thinking about as she sped down the highway.

She just got word that the plans had changed. The cargo ship had been attacked by an unknown assailant, and had to make an emergency landing. While her "guide" could not get a visual, it knew the precise GPS coordinates. It was in a large, grassy field just up ahead. She immediately spotted it by the massive clouds of black smoke towering above the trees.

Rain made a hard right turn over several lanes, causing generally a lot of people to honk at her. She drove into the parking lot of a wooded picnic area. She then got out of her car and wandered past the empty wooden tables, right into the small forest beyond. Her eyes were glazed over the whole time. She could hear gunfire and explosions in the distance and smell the burning metal, but she didn't seem to care. All that mattered was getting to the downed cargo ship.

She came up to the clearing ahead, where military mobile suits seemed to be fighting each other. Beams and bullets flew everywhere, and wrecked mobile suits shook the ground when they fell. Explosions made her stumble and threatened to rupture her eardrums, but she continued on. She didn't care about the firefight. She needed to get to that cargo ship. She needed to set the Dark Gundam free.

* * *

The enemy proved to be just as slippery on the ground as they did in the air. They always seemed to know exactly when they'd be shot at and would always manage to get out of the way just in time. Meanwhile, they'd fight back with deadly accuracy. It was time to switch tactics.

The surviving members of the cargo ship's escort managed to take out one Busshi by ganging up on it, giving it absolutely nowhere to go. They took out another by faking it out - pretending to shoot right at it, then immediately firing at the place it dodged to. They still had a dozen of these guys left, however, and they didn't seem to fall for the same trick twice.

They also found out that these stolen mobile suits were unmanned. Once destroyed, no one ejected or crawled out. The cockpits were empty. Someone was controlling these things remotely. Maybe it they could find out who it was, they could end this quickly - before the enemy finished them off! They quickly radioed the ship's crew to let them know.

But just as they tried to come up with a plan to out the mastermind behind all this, a new problem showed up on radar. A civilian was aimlessly walking through the field, completely oblivious to their fighting. Distracted, the escorts paused. Even the enemy seemed to stop for a moment. _What was she doing here?!_

* * *

Meanwhile, some of the enemy units began their assault on the cargo ship itself. They mostly focused on firing at the cargo bay, no doubt trying to blow a large enough hole in it. The crew members valiantly fought back with the few guns on the ship that were still functional. They had finally managed to radio for backup, but they had no idea if it was going to arrive in time. These guys easily evaded cannon fire as if they were reading the gunners' minds.

The crew received word from what was left of the escort that the enemy was actually a bunch of unmanned drones. It seemed extremely hard to believe, as these things kept running around like they had to have minds of their own. However, the escorts told them that they blew up two of them, and there was no one inside. If they can figure out who was controlling them and how, they could possibly take the enemy mobile suits all out at once.

Acting quickly, a couple crew members immediately began searching for any suspicious radio or Wi-Fi signals that might be issuing the enemy units orders. They did manage to find an encrypted Wi-Fi signal that seemed to originate about a kilometer south of them. Using the only long-range rear camera that survived the attack, they managed to find a lone Busshi far out in the field. It seemed to be just standing there, watching the carnage. Perhaps one of the rear-mounted beam cannons could take it out.

But just as they were about to launch an attack on the mysterious mobile suit, two horrible things happened at once. First, the escorts started shouting over the radio that a civilian had wandered into the battle. Second, an enemy unit managed to land a direct hit at the ship's main generator. The ship went completely dark as the electricity went out.

The assailants actually stopped attacking them after that. They probably figured that the battle was over and that they could go ahead and plunder the ship. The crew desperately checked to see if backup power was operational, and if they could route it to their weapons. They were so close! They knew who the leader was, they just needed to shoot it down! Unfortunately, they never got the chance. The ship began to violently shudder as great clanging noises came from the cargo bay.

Something huge was beating against the damaged walls, trying to escape...

* * *

The stranger was so surprised, that his drones actually stopped in their tracks for a second. A civilian had suddenly wandered into the firefight, and it was somebody he knew. Rain Mikamura? What was _she_ doing here?

The view from his drones' optics showed that she was making her way to the cargo ship. The Dark Gundam couldn't possibly be calling to her, could it? And if it was...why was it communicating with her and not him? Maybe it had to do with his damaged DG Cells - which was actually a good thing, as it prevented that monster from brainwashing him, too!

The ZERO system alerted him that the plans had changed. The ship's crew managed to spot him, and if he didn't act fast, they'd start firing at him. He sneered and quickly forgot about Rain for the moment. Very well, then. He didn't want to have to do this, as it had the potential to blow up the ship, but if he didn't, his mission would fail. He ordered one of his Busshi that was attacking the ship to fire upon the ship's generator. He used the ZERO system's calculations to pick the location that had the lowest possibility of causing an explosion.

Fortunately for him, it worked. The ship didn't detonate, and all of its cannons lost power. It was now safe to collect his prize. He wondered what Rain would do once he took the Dark Gundam. Would she mindlessly start following him? Was she even still alive? He couldn't find her in any of his units' cameras.

But just as he was about to send his Busshi into the cargo hold, the ship began to shake all over. A huge white forearm burst forth from the hull. The stranger quickly called his drones back as a familiar-looking set of red shoulders covered in round golden vents began to emerge from the ship...

* * *

"What am I _doing_ here?!" Rain screamed as she suddenly found herself in the middle of a mobile suit shoot-out. The last thing she remembered was falling asleep on a chair back in her apartment. The next thing she knew, she was waking up to the sound of a loud crash. When she opened her eyes, she was standing around in some sort of grassy field with a fallen tree right in front of her. All around her, Busshi were firing their beam rifles at each other.

She quickly dived into the forest on her right and hid behind the nearest tree. What was going on here? Where was she? How did she even get here? Why were there mobile suits fighting each other? And most importantly, how could she get out of here?! It wasn't safe here either - a stray beam just scorched the ground a few feet to her left.

She began to head north, the quickest direction away from the fighting. She wasn't sure if it was the right direction, but the faster she got away from the beams, the better. If this wasn't the way out, she could always wait from a safe distance away until the Busshi pilots stopped fighting over...whatever it was they were fighting about.

Rain ran from tree to tree, cautiously peeking around them to make sure a pot-shot wasn't aimed her way. As she began to make her way away from the battle, she found herself running straight into a new peril. Up ahead and to her left she found more Busshi and two Fantomas standing around a huge, downed ship that had a few holes in its side. As she got closer, she saw that the ship was a cargo ship. It made her stop in her tracks. A cargo ship? It wasn't... _that_ cargo ship, was it?

It was then that the ship suddenly began to shake and the sound of crunching metal rang out. The weakened walls began to bend outward. Something inside it was trying to get out - something huge. Rain backed away and prepared herself to run; there were very few things capable of doing that kind of damage, and she had a good feeling what it was.

Sure enough, the arm of what looked a gigantic mobile suit punched its way through the ship's hull. The other arm appeared shortly to help pull the hole it made wide open. The other mobile suits retreated as a massive Gundam began to crawl out of the wrecked ship. A Gundam with an unmistakable design of its upper body poking out of a larger Gundam's face. A Gundam that had severed set of extra arms that slowly dragged themselves along the ground after their main body. A Gundam that not only had a mouth, but long yellow fangs.

Rain had to grab onto a tree to stop from herself from falling over. She knew this was going to happen from the start. The Dark Gundam had been online the while time - and now it was loose! And by some awful twist of fate, she was placed right where she would see the whole thing!

She quickly turned around and ran as fast as she could. Was this another hallucination? She didn't care! The forest was real, the fighting mobile suits were real, nothing was made out of silver goo - it all seemed real enough to her! She would have to run past the fighting Busshi again, but she'd take them over the Dark Gundam any day.

She only made it a few yards before she heard the mechanical monster's booming growls. She nearly tripped over her feet as something kept pounding on the ground. She looked over her shoulder to find the fiend not only looking back at her, but trying to crawl after her. Thankfully, it wasn't going very fast; it could only drag itself along by its arms. Its continuous slapping of the ground and pulling itself was causing the ground to shake. For some reason, it wasn't trying to form cable tentacles or Gundam heads to try and grab her from a distance. Then she remembered Dr. Kasshu saying that this thing was probably only running on backup power. It didn't even have the energy to stand up, let alone perform its nasty tricks. Rain decided to take advantage of this and tried to push herself to run even faster.

Rain came up on the battle again, only to find that some of the Busshi were retreating. No doubt this was because they just spotted the gruesome Gundam coming their way. Still other Busshi were ignoring it and firing upon the ones that were retreating. She really wished they'd turn around and start firing Dark Gundam, but she had no such luck. Still, as long as they weren't firing at her...

No sooner did she think that than a stray beam struck a tree several yards in front of her. She skidded to a stop when she heard the cracking of wood tearing apart and saw the tree tipping over. With another awful crash, the tree landed right in her path. She ran up to it, thinking she might be able to climb over it. The trunk turned out to be way bigger than she thought it was - sure, maybe Domon and his friends could jump over it, but she didn't have superhuman strength like they did. It would take way too much time for her to climb over. Time to go around it!

Unfortunately, the fastest way around it was also the way that would expose her to laser fire or getting captured - she would have to run out into the clearing. However, it was either run out there and maybe be captured or stay where she was and definitely be captured. Even now, she could hear the growls and the sound of metal scraping against the ground as the Dark Gundam slowly began to catch up to her. With that, she ran out into the clearing to get around the fallen tree.

As she emerged from the trees, she was surprised to see a Busshi fly toward her. It then stopped a few yards away from her and readied its beam rifle. Rain found herself freezing out of fear. Was it going to shoot her?

No, thank goodness. It turned around and started firing at the Dark Gundam, forcing the vile machine to back off. Another Busshi swooped in, probably to join its comrade.

"We'll hold it off until reinforcements arrive!" a man's voice rang out over a loudspeaker from the Busshi closest to her. "Clear outta here, now!"

Rain nodded; he didn't need to tell her twice! But just as she was about to run back into the trees, the other Busshi raised its rifle and pointed it directly at the first Busshi.

"Look out!" she screamed.

Whether or not the pilot could hear her from down there was irrelevant, as it was too late. The second Busshi blasted the first one's head clean off. The pilot managed to eject, but the mobile suit was still falling...right on her.

Rain yelped and tried to dive out of the way. She landed in the grass and covered her head as a deafening crash shook the world around her. She wasn't crushed, so obviously she successfully got out of the way.

She opened her eyes. For some reason, she found herself surrounded by white metal walls that seemingly came out of nowhere. She stared at them confused for a second until she realized what they were.

Her stomach dropped and a chill ran up her spine. Those weren't walls...they were giant arms.

Rain really didn't want to look behind her, but she forced herself anyway. Just as she suspected, the Dark Gundam had trapped her by surrounding her with its arms. Its green optics were trained right on her, and its mouth was stuck in that toothy snarl. Lying on top of its shoulders was the ruined Busshi that almost fell on her.

Wait...did the Dark Gundam just protect her from getting squished?

No, no, of course not. This thing wasn't doing it out of the goodness of its heart, it didn't have one. It only defended her because it wanted to make her its core again.

Rain couldn't let that happen, but what could she do? There was no way out of its grip unless she tried to climb up its arms. However, just touching it was a good way to get infected with DG Cells!

Her racing mind was interrupted by another wave of chills and a disembodied voice ringing in her head.

 _You must come with me if you do not wish to die._

It was that distorted version of her own voice that Rain heard in her last hallucination. Was the Gundam speaking to her? How was it even doing that? It didn't sound like it was talking through a loudspeaker, and certainly wasn't moving its mouth. She felt herself getting angry again. Her anger quickly overcame her despair and she looked the monster right in its optics.

"I said it before, and I'll say it again - I wouldn't join you in a million years!" she barked.

Over the Gundam's shoulders and the downed mobile suit on top of them, Rain spied the other Busshi grabbing one of the Dark Gundam's severed extra arms. The arm immediately began to thrash around like a caught fish, and the Busshi was forced to let go before its face was scratched off. Several beams were suddenly fired in its direction. The Busshi somehow managed to dodge all of the incoming fire, and started shooting back. As the first group of shooters retaliated, some of the beams from the return fire struck the Dark Gundam instead. It growled loudly in response, and Rain fell to her knees from the impacts.

 _Do you not see that we are surrounded by enemies?_ the Dark Gundam messaged her again. _If you do not get inside my cockpit, you will be shot to death!_

"I think I'll take my chances with the death rays, thank you!" Rain shouted as she stood back up. "Besides, I'd rather get fried than let you form another Dark Colony!"

 _So you insist on behaving irrationally,_ the Dark Gundam said. _In that case, I will give you no choice._

It lifted itself up slightly, exposing the huge hole in its chest. Thick green cables shot out of the hole and wrapped themselves around Rain's middle, ankles, and arms. She screamed as they dragged her right into the Gundam's body.

The Dark Gundam's eyes glowed ominously. With its core life unit back in place, it now had the strength to push the Busshi off of it and stand up. Green cables grabbed the wrecked Busshi and tore it apart. They took out the other mobile suit's generator and shoved it in the Gundam's body to replace the one it lost during the final battle. Afterward, it used its DG Cells to consume the Busshi's armor and turn it into liquid metal slurry. It then poured this liquid over its damaged chest. In seconds, the metal was solid again and the hole was sealed up. Finally the cables reattached the severed arms to their rightful places on the back of the Gundam's shoulders.

The remaining members of the fleet and even some of the drones took cover as the fiend let out a triumphant roar. The Dark Gundam was once again complete.


	5. Rain Fights Back

**Disclaimer:** _Mobile Fighter G Gundam_ is owned by Bandai and Sunrise. I just write about it in my spare time.

 **On the Dark Side**  
 **Chapter 5: Outrage! Rain Fights Back!**

Well, this was unexpected. That's what the stranger thought to himself as he watched the carnage from afar.

He witnessed from his drones' video feed that the Dark Gundam managed to capture Rain and repair itself. No doubt it was about to form another colony. That was alright, he could work with that. He could just fly off somewhere safe, wait for the Gundam to finish growing, and gather as many DG Cells from it as he needed. Besides, it would quickly find itself fighting the Neo Japanese military; it probably wouldn't even know he was there!

He called back his drones, and prepared to fly off. While most of them obeyed and flew to his side, three of the Busshi in the field stayed put. That was odd, why weren't they listening? He tried sending the command again, but they still refused to budge. Their video and audio feeds began to fill with static, too. The last transmission he received from them was that they had identified the Dark Gundam as a hostile party before he lost their signals altogether.

Dammit! It had to do with his broken DG Cells, didn't it? They must be losing power. Well, three Busshi wasn't a big loss. He could always go infect some other mobile suits later. For now, he had to get out of here.

* * *

Rain found herself in a very familiar, very unwanted situation. Green cables of varying thickness had tied her feet to the floor of the Dark Gundam's cockpit, and tied both her arms straight out behind her. There wasn't a lot of light in here, but there was just enough to see the silver liquid seeping out of the cables that bound her wrists and ankles. She could feel the cool fluid slowly covering her hands, feet, forearms, and shins.

She felt a sudden icy sting on the nape of her neck as a thin cable connected itself to the base of her skull and spine. Her head ached and her body went cold as an invisible presence began to probe her mind. The Dark Gundam was trying to feed itself off of her emotions and thoughts again.

 _Once again, we are one,_ that voice echoed in her head.

This couldn't be happening! It was just like that moment a month and a half ago when Major Ulube captured her and forced her to become the Dark Gundam's core unit the first time. Since Ulube was long gone, fate had decided to play dirty and drop her right into the Dark Gundam's path again by means she still didn't understand. Now here she was, back in the monster's body, being turned into its core unit again. No doubt those military officers had already contacted Domon about this, but would he make it in time? Could this thing even be stopped when it had an entire planet to absorb? She never felt so terrified, so...

ANGRY.

No, she wasn't going to let this happen again! She wasn't going to just sit by and let the Dark Gundam do whatever it wanted! In her rage, Rain managed to summon the strength to rip some of the cords binding her arms with one good yank. She was then able to reach the liquid metal crawling up her arms and start tearing it off of her. Thankfully, it hadn't hardened yet; she could still move her fingers, and the slime easily peeled off. The cable on her neck started wriggling, confused by the sudden burst of emotion.

Her efforts to break free were interrupted when Gundam suddenly pitched forward. She let out a surprised squeal, but the cables tying her down broke her fall. Fancy that, they actually did something _good_ for once!

 _Stop doing that,_ the Gundam's silent voice ordered.

"Stop doing what? You mean _this?_ " Rain mocked it as she reached down and peeled some of the silver off of her leg.

The Gundam responded by stumbling again, causing her to jostle around a bit. It felt like the thing was having difficulty standing up. She felt it slowly get back on its feet, swaying unsteadily.

The cockpit was suddenly filled with bright light, and Rain was forced to close her eyes for a moment. When she opened them, she saw that the Dark Gundam had turned on its panoramic screen. Three Busshi were outside, pointing their beam rifles at them. Because all Busshi looked the same, she couldn't tell whether they were with the man who tried to save her, or that other guy.

 _There are three hostile units outside,_ the Gundam explained. _If you do not cooperate, we may both be terminated._

"Yeah? If you want me to cooperate, you'll first stop trying to kill every human you see!" Rain barked at it. "Stop covering me in goo would be a close second!"

 _These units are unmanned drones, not humans. And the polyalloy coating is necessary for accurate core unit interface_.

"I don't care! It's not like I want to be your core uni-"

Rain's rant was cut short when one of the Busshi suddenly opened fire, hitting the Dark Gundam in the shoulder. The Gundam was knocked backward, but its extra large legs and feet kept it from falling over. Rain was shaken up again, but the cables continued to hold her in place.

Because she was connected to the Gundam, however, she felt pain in her shoulder from the shot. That was enough to feed her fury even more. She glared daggers at the Busshi on screen and balled her metal-coated hand into a fist. The Dark Gundam followed suit.

"Do you mind?!" she roared at the Busshi that had taken the shot. "I'm _trying_ to yell at my Gundam here!"

Without a second thought, Rain raised her fist and swung at the offending mobile suit with all of her might. The Dark Gundam did the same, swinging its huge fist right at the Busshi's head. The smaller mobile suit attempted to dodge out of the way, but the Dark Gundam was too close and too big. It ended up punching through the Busshi's midsection instead. The cockpit was torn open, revealing that it was, in fact, a drone.

Your _Gundam, now am I?_ the Dark Gundam suddenly said. It sounded vaguely amused.

"Shut up!" Rain snapped.

The two remaining Busshi drones backed off a few yards and opened fire. Rain's eyes flared as her anger and frustration rose to unprecedented levels. As her temper boiled over, the Dark Gundam began to modify its cockpit. The silver coating stopped at Rain's elbows and knees. The cables let go of her wrists and ankles so that she could move more freely. They then wrapped themselves around her chest and midsection like a safety harness.

Still in a rage blind enough not to question her situation too much, Rain mentally ordered the Dark Gundam to chase after and punish the two pests. It folded its legs into its lower face and flew after them, its vulcan guns blazing. She was surprised that this thing was pretty easy to handle. Last time she was forced into its cockpit, it was mostly on auto pilot; its actions were calculated by her reactions to Domon's presence. This was the first time she controlled it directly and consciously. She expected its massive size, bizarre weapons, and dangerous AI would make the whole experience awkward and difficult, but oddly enough, it wasn't. In fact, it didn't feel that much different from piloting the Shining or Rising Gundams.

The Busshi were annoyingly good at dodging, flying around her shots rather easily. To make things worse, they were also annoyingly accurate; they always managed to land a direct hit somewhere on the Dark Gundam's body, even though she tried her best to avoid them. The pain she felt from the impacts just made her angrier and more determined to destroy the drones. She wasn't too concerned about the Gundam; it could regenerate pretty fast.

It also had good boosters on its mobile armor mode, as she was rapidly closing in to the much more agile mobile suits. Since shooting at them didn't seem to work, Rain planned on just grabbing them and ripping them limb from limb. But just as they were within arm's reach, they suddenly split up.

Frustrated, Rain chased after the one she felt was closer to her. She tried shooting at the ground ahead of it to force it to slow down. It worked - sort of. The Busshi flew around the shots, but it still had to slow down in the process. But it was just enough so that it was in grabbing distance again. Rain readied both arms, just in case it tried to slip through her fingers.

It didn't try to dodge. Instead, it flipped around and fired a fully charged beam directly at the cockpit. Rain let out a scream. It was too close, and her Gundam was too big to get out of the way!

Fortunately for her, the Gundam's massive arms sprang to life and covered its chest, blocking the beam. The Dark Gundam's AI managed to take over when she panicked. Its arms were badly charred from the shot, but nothing it couldn't repair. Still acting on its own, it ripped the beam rifle right out of the Busshi's hands, and snapped the cord connecting the gun to its generator.

Rain was shaken, but managed to regain her composure a second later. Her rage quickly built itself back up when she thought about how that drone just tried to kill her, and she took control of the second pair of arms. She didn't even know how she did it; she just gave the mental command, and the extra limbs started obeying. But now was not the time to stop and figure it out. She fired both hand-mounted beam cannons at the Busshi, making sure that one of the hands fired a few seconds after the first one did. As expected, the enemy mobile suit jumped out of the way of her first beam, only to land right in the path of the second. It was smelted down into scrap.

As satisfying as that felt, there was no time to admire her handiwork. There was one last drone on the loose, and she needed to find out where it flew off to. As luck would have it, she didn't have to do any searching. A beam shot struck the Dark Gundam right in the back, meaning it was directly behind them. The blast hurt like hell and nearly knocked her off her feet, but she was far too infuriated to care.

"Did you just cheapshot me?!" Rain screamed as she turned around to face the last Busshi.

 _It cannot answer you,_ the Gundam remarked as it turned with her.

Rain ignored its quip and she made the legs unfold, switching out of mobile armor mode. She stomped toward the irritating Busshi, who was busy charging its beam rifle. She knew it couldn't be intimidated, but she didn't care; these huge legs and feet were great for angry stomping. She clenched her hand into a tight fist, and circuitry patterns began to glow on the silver coating.

"Do you want to know what I do to people who cheapshot me?" Rain growled in the most threatening voice she could muster as she stomped right up to the drone.

 _I told you before, it cannot answer you,_ the Dark Gundam scoffed as its hand began to glow an ominous shade of purple.

Rain ignored it again as she raised her glowing hand and lunged forward. Why she knew how to execute this next move, she wasn't sure. Part of it was probably from when she helped Domon do a Shining Finger way back in Shinjuku. But the rest...she just seemed to know.

" **DARKNESS FINGER!** "

The Dark Gundam lunged at the Busshi with its glowing hand. At the same time, the enemy mobile suit fired its beam cannon right at its extended arm. However, the Dark Gundam's hand passed right through the beam, shattered the rifle, and grabbed the Busshi's head in a death grip. There was a small explosion, and the drone's lifeless body fell to the ground without its head.

"I...I did it!" Rain said to herself. With the last drone gone, her anger subsided and she began to relax - as much as she could possibly relax inside the Dark Gundam, anyway. She closed her eyes and rubbed her flushed face with her silver-coated hands. The metal gel was cold, but its coolness was welcome this time. This was certainly a rough day.

Meanwhile, the Dark Gundam began acting on its own again, tossing aside the Busshi's head and analyzing its body.

 _It seems this drone was being controlled by DG Cells,_ Rain heard it musing. _However, they appear to be damaged. I cannot connect to them, therefore I cannot find out who was controlling them. I can attempt to repair them, but I do not have enough time._

"Enough...time?" Rain opened her eyes and saw the wrecked, decapitated Busshi in the Dark Gundam's hands. Reality quickly began to crash down on her and she let out a scream.

" _Oh my God, what did I do?!_ " she cried. "Did...did I do all that?!"

 _You destroyed three hostile mobile suits,_ the Dark Gundam answered. _And yes, you did._

"This is horrible! What if there was _people_ in there?!" Rain covered her face with both hands.

 _I informed you beforehand that these mobile suits were unmanned._

"I-I know that, but what _if-?!_ " Rain argued. "And aren't those military mobile suits? Oh God, what if they arrest me?!"

 _These units were all hijacked off of a base earlier today. Military officials will most likely hold either the hijacker or myself responsible for their destruction rather than you._

Rain didn't find much relief in that answer. She kept staring at the remains of that Busshi and thinking about how viciously she brutalized it. How she practically punched the first one in half and melted the second one down with beam cannons. Yes, they attacked her first - one of them even tried to kill her. But this level of ruthlessness was just...not her. She had completely lost control; it was like she was someone else!

Wait...maybe she _was_ someone else. She _was_ inside the Dark Gundam after all.

"You made me do this!" she accused it.

 _Me? I did nothing,_ it replied.

"Don't lie to me!" she shouted. "I know how you use your DG Cells to make humans go crazy and destroy things!"

 _I am incapable of fabricating falsified data that would not be instantly recognized by most humans as untrue. And I did not have to use any DG Cells to influence you into destroying these mobile suits; you did it all yourself._ The Gundam's emotions were much more muted than a human's, but Rain could sense it was getting annoyed at her.

"I don't believe you!" she roared, her anger rising again. "I couldn't have done this myself! It's just...not possible!"

 _You do not have to believe me if you do not wish to,_ the fiendish Gundam said, _but you may feel free to stay angry at me as long as you want. We have much to do._

"We have...? What does that mea-!" Rain was cut off when new cables shot out of the walls of the cockpit and ensnared her wrists and ankles. Her harness tightened and stiffened, locking her in place. The metal coating began traveling up her limbs again, and at a much faster rate.

 _Reinforcements are on en route to this location. We must establish a new colony with strong defenses,_ the Dark Gundam explained. _Among these reinforcements is your romantic partner, Domon Kasshu. Therefore, we must ensure that all important structures are fireproof so he cannot destroy them. It is a lot of work in a short amount of time, but as long as you stay outraged, my calculations say it is possible. Your anger is much more useful than your despair._

Rain felt herself beginning to panic again. She needed to do something, and fast! But what? The Dark Gundam had reinforced her bonds, making it almost impossible to move. Even if she could move, the coating was moving up her body faster than she could ever hope to pick it off!

Just when everything seemed hopeless, Rain felt something move in her vest pocket. That's right, the syringe of anti-nanomachines! In all of the chaos, she almost forgot about it! But could she reach it in time?

She pulled as hard as she could against the cables, struggling to get her closest hand to reach her pocket. As if it knew what she was doing, the cables resisted. Then they began to fight back, trying to pull her arm behind her. Meanwhile, the silver had covered both her shoulders and was moving along her chest. If she didn't act fast, the syringe would be covered up by the metal sludge.

Rain summoned every last ounce of strength she had and gave the cables a tremendous yank. The cables finally snapped or yielded, but not before giving her a bunch of rope burns and cuts. She fumbled around in her pocket just as the liquid metal began to slide up her chest. She managed to fish the syringe out just as the ooze engulfed her vest.

As she carefully took off the cap, she felt her fingers begin to stiffen. The metal shell was already beginning to harden around her. Acting fast, she stabbed the needle into one of the larger cables of her harness and pushed down on the plunger.

Rain could hear the anti-nanomachines making soft humming and clicking noises. However, nothing seemed to be happening. Her heart sank. They didn't work, did they? Suddenly, the cables around her chest began to darken before falling apart. All of her restraints loosened at once as they began to writhe in agony. The silver stopped in its tracks right underneath her jawline and chin, as well as stopped solidifying around her hands and feet.

She wasted no time slipping out of her ropes. While it was great to see that Dr. Kasshu's nanomachines worked, she still needed to figure out a way to get out of the cockpit. She wasn't sure how she did it last time; Domon just told her he loved her and the next thing she knew, she was shooting out of it like a rocket! This time it wasn't so simple.

Her train of thought was suddenly derailed, however, by a sharp, burning pain in her chest. She realized that this was coming from the Dark Gundam itself; she must still be connected to it somehow. She felt something wriggling against her neck and instantly remembered the wire on the back of her head. Her fingers were still a little stiff from the metal coating, but she managed to pull the last pesky wire off of her, severing the connection. The pain in her chest quickly faded away.

There was no time to relax, however, as the Dark Gundam turned off its panoramic screen, plunging the cockpit into darkness. Rain was forced to grab on to some of the wriggling wires as the giant mech toppled forward. There was an ear-splitting thud as it hit the ground, and both Rain and rotting cables fell to the "floor," which was now the chestplates. Daylight poured into the cockpit as the plates began to open in order to purge the infected cables. Thinking quickly, Rain grabbed onto one of the plates so that she wouldn't be sent tumbling to her doom; it was a high drop, after all! Once the chestplate she was dangling from was fully extended, she let go and tried to land on her feet. She _almost_ succeeded. Despite her best efforts, it was still a long fall, and she felt pain shoot up one of her ankles. At the very least, it was probably sprained; she really hoped it wasn't broken.

Above her the Dark Gundam was on its hands and knees, trembling. It had replaced its faceplate and was groaning through it. It was amazing how it shrugged off all those beam shots, but Dr. Kasshu's anti-nanomachines completely incapacitated it. They must be completely disrupting its systems as well as dissolving its DG Cells. But Rain also remembered Dr. Kasshu saying that those nanites only had a limited power supply. Without wasting another second, she picked herself up off the ground and ran as fast as she possibly could away from the vile Gundam. Her ankle throbbed in protest, and her feet felt very stiff from where the coating had hardened, but she kept going anyway. She had to get away from that thing.

Off in the distance in front of her, the survivors of the Busshi firefight were waving to her from the cover of some trees. She waved back and began to run in their direction, hoping they could help her. But just when things were beginning to look up, she suddenly felt cold and heard the Dark Gundam's voice in her head again.

 _Very clever...but not clever enough!_

All of her joints locked up at once as the silver surrounding her instantly became solid. She dropped to the ground, unable to move.

"HELP!" she screamed as she wriggled as furiously as she could, trying to break free of her metal prison. Unfortunately, she couldn't remember how to get this stuff off of her. Last time, it shattered when she realized Domon loved her. But Domon wasn't here now, and thinking about him didn't seem to be helping. Where _was_ he, anyway? Weren't they keeping him on standby in case the Dark Gundam got loose? Why wasn't he here yet?!

"We've gotcha, ma'am!" she heard a man's voice say behind her. Two military mobile suit pilots ran over and picked Rain off the ground - one lifted her up from under the arms, and the other lifted her by the legs. They began to carry her over to their comrades by the trees.

Rain caught a glimpse of the Dark Gundam over the shoulders of the pilot that was carrying her legs. It was no longer trembling, but it wasn't moving, either. But it didn't need to, as uninfected cables spilled out of its still open chest. They crawled along the ground, and headed after them.

"Look out!" Rain screamed. She wanted to point in the direction of the cables, but she still couldn't move. The pilots spotted the creeping wires anyway, and cursed out loud as they tried to run faster. Unfortunately, the cables seemed to be faster than them.

Suddenly, they all heard somebody shouting in the distance. The pilots stopped running and both ducked while placing her on the ground. Before Rain could wonder what they were doing, a beam shot across the sky. It struck the Dark Gundam in the shoulder, making it roar in anger and fall over on its side. Rain craned her head around, trying to find the source of the beam; luckily enough, the shell around her neck was still flexible. Behind them, the other pilots had salvaged the beam cannon off of one of their wrecked Busshi along with its generator and were firing it manually. Thanks to the distraction, the cables stopped moving for a minute; it managed to buy them some time.

The two pilots picked her up again and charged across the field. But just as they were only a few yards away from their friends, the one that was carrying Rain's legs suddenly tumbled to the ground, taking her with him. The horrid machine had redoubled its efforts to recapture Rain, and was making its cables grow as fast as it possibly could without a core unit. Said cables had caught up to them and managed to grab the one pilot by his leg. It threw him aside as the other wires continued crawling after her. The Gundam's main body had already recovered from the beam shot and was now slowly crawling toward them all by dragging itself along the ground again.

Seeing their friends in danger, the rest of the space fleet ran out into the field and started firing at the cables with their human-sized laser rifles. Meanwhile, the pilot who still had a hold on Rain continued to try to get her to safety. Back by the trees, the remaining officers were trying to charge up another beam cannon shot, but it seemed to be taking its sweet time.

Sadly, it was all for naught as the tentacles easily swatted the opposition away or tied them up to keep them from attacking. Then the wires lunged forward and grabbed both Rain and the pilot that was trying to get her to safety. She flopped around as hard as she could in a last ditch effort to break the metal around her, but the shell refused to even dent. The cables picked her up off the ground by her legs and midsection to stop her from thrashing.

"NO! Let go of me!" she screamed at it, trying her best to squirm out of its clutches. She didn't want to just sit by and let this thing drag her back into its body, but what was she going to do? She couldn't move at all, and she was out of options.

 _I really wish you had not done that,_ she heard the Dark Gundam scolding as it closed in on her. _You wasted a lot of time by trying to escape. Now we will have to retreat and find some other place to build a new col-_

The mechanical monster was interrupted when another Gundam flew down from the sky. A Gundam with distinctive wings and two sets of horns. One Rain was very happy to see.

" **ERUPTING, BURNING SLASH!** "

The Burning Gundam tore through all the cables on the ground with a flaming beam saber. Domon had made sure to cut the wires at a good distance away from Rain and her rescuers so that they wouldn't accidentally get burned. With their connections severed, the tentacles lost their grip on everyone and were easily discarded. Meanwhile, the Dark Gundam seemingly lost power and collapsed face down. Rain wasn't falling for it, however; it was probably playing dead now that Domon was here.

Right on Domon's heels were the reinforcements. They consisted of a very large fleet of heavily-armed Nobusshi and a dozen fighter ships. Another cargo ship was also among their number. Once they saw that the Dark Gundam was neutralized, the ships quickly began to deploy energy nets around it. The multitude of Nobusshi started landing all over the field and secured the area as well as the nets around their quarry. A few of them stopped to extinguish any flames the Burning Gundam set when it cut the cables. Some of the fleet flew off in the direction of the downed cargo ship, probably off to help the crew and try to recover the wreckage. Finally, a few mobile suits began flying far off into the distance, searching for that mysterious person who was controlling those drones.

Several paramedic ships also arrived alongside the fleet. Their crews immediately started taking in the surviving pilots of the earlier shootout. Two paramedics wearing Hazmat suits walked up to the still immobile Rain and helped hoist her up onto a stretcher.

"Rain! Where are you?! Are you okay?!" Domon shouted over his loudspeaker.

Rain was hoping that the metal shell would shatter once her boyfriend arrived on the scene, but sadly, it didn't. It did, however, crack a little at one of her shoulders. After vigorously rolling that shoulder, she managed to chip away at it enough to raise the arm and give him an awkward wave.

"Over here, Domon!" she called. "I'm okay!"

"Rain!" Domon cried when he spotted her. "Oh, I'm so glad you're alright! They told me that the Dark Gundam grabbed you again!" The Burning Gundam turned toward the demonic machine in question, who was completely wrapped up in the energy nets and being dragged toward the fresh cargo ship. "And speaking of which..."

Domon marched his Gundam right up to the captured devil and the team of Nobusshi that were hauling it. The Burning Gundam's wings spread out, creating a circular rainbow, and his right hand began to burn a furious shade of red.

"Alright, everybody outta the way!" Domon barked raising his glowing hand. "I'm gonna take care of this once and for all!"

The Nobusshi quickly blocked him. A few more that weren't in charge of carrying the Dark Gundam stepped over and surrounded Domon just in case things got ugly.

"I'm sorry, but we can't let you do that, Mr. Kasshu," one of the Nobusshi pilots said. "We have our orders. The Dark Gundam has been neutralized, so we must return to base with it for containment."

"Yeah? And I had my orders, too!" Domon roared back. "I was told that if the Dark Gundam ever got loose, I was to destroy it! And that's exactly what it did!"

"Yes, but you already knocked offline," the rather patient pilot continued. "There's no need to destroy it now. We need to take it back to base where we can ensure it won't get loose again. Then we'll dispose of it."

"No, we need to dispose of it right _now!_ " Domon shouted. "Look, it managed to grab Rain again! What's it gonna take for you guys to get it?! Does it need to form another colony?!"

As Domon continued to argue with the military officials, Rain's stretcher was wheeled into the nearest paramedic ship. As the ship flew her up and away from the field, EMTs clad in Hazmat suits carefully chipped away at her silver coating with surgical mallets. They started with her joints first, so she could at least move around. She let them know about her injured foot, and they worked on freeing that next. Whenever they were able to break off a piece of the shell, they immediately put it in a tub of some sort of corrosive solution. Strong acid maybe? The metal was probably crawling with DG Cells, meaning she would later have to undergo rigorous decontamination just like she did a month and a half ago. She was not looking forward to that.

She sighed. She really hoped today's events would convince the government that the Dark Gundam should just be destroyed immediately, but she doubted it. Even if by some miracle they _did_ decide to dismantle it...would they be able to? She just witnessed it make a complete comeback from what looked like certain destruction. What if her fears were right, and it was completely indestructible now?

And even though the monster had been contained, was she actually safe? She still had no idea how she wound up in that field in the first place. Had the Dark Gundam hypnotized her through those hallucinations? How was it doing that, and could it do it again? She knew that awful thing was neither "neutralized" nor "offline." It was simply lying in wait for its next opportunity.

It wasn't over. There was no such thing as "over."

* * *

Well, that was quite an ordeal!

From a group of foothills several kilometers away from the field, the stranger had watched the chaos using his Busshi's long range camera. It wasn't the best seat in the house, but he could still see the Dark Gundam destroying his rogue drones from here. He also watched it as it suddenly went down, though he couldn't see why it did. He then watched as the Burning Gundam arrived along with reinforcements.

He sneered to himself. Domon Kasshu. So he survived, did he? The stranger had been knocked out (offline?) during his last confrontation with Domon, so he did not get to see how the previous battle against the Dark Gundam played out. Since he was here and seemingly unscathed, it was safe to assume he won that match.

Well, this wasn't good; he couldn't have Domon around. Maybe he wasn't a problem right now, but the stranger knew that they would cross paths eventually. And when they did, he knew Domon would do everything in his power to stop him. He needed to find a way to get the Gundam Fighter out of the picture while he was still unaware of his presence. But how?

Confront Domon directly? He wasn't sure if that was a good idea. Yes, the Gundam Fighter wasn't nearly as invincible outside of his mobile suit, but he was still a force to be reckoned with. He did not receive that Shuffle Alliance crest for nothing. In addition, the stranger was not able to repair his DG Cells like he wanted to. He found a few cells on the hands of the Busshi that had grabbed that loose arm, but those cells weren't in much better shape than his current ones. And now that the Dark Gundam had been recaptured, his chances of fully repairing himself were next to nothing.

On the other hand, he did have his ace in the hole. If he were to ambush Domon, and use his ZERO system to predict all of his moves...

He was snapped out of his reverie by something coming up on his radar. A group of mobile suits were scouting the area and were heading in his direction. He would have to worry about Domon later; right now, he needed to get out of here.

With that, the stranger and his drones flew off, taking cover among the foothills in order to stay off the scouts' radar. He needed to find a secure location where he and his squad could hide - and where he could readjust all of his plans in peace.


	6. Nightmare in Silver

**Disclaimer:** _Mobile Fighter G Gundam_ is owned by Bandai and Sunrise. I just write about it in my spare time.

 **On the Dark Side  
Chapter 6: Nightmare in Silver! Tame the Darkness, Rain!**

 **Author's Note:** Many thanks to ALittleSalty1 for lots of help streamlining this chapter.

Well there goes my week. That's what Rain thought as she was lying in her hospital bed and blankly staring up at the ceiling.

The paramedics had been ordered to take her to a nearby military hospital, as she was potentially infected with DG Cells - a classified substance. There, a crack team of doctors and nurses finished freeing her from her silver shell. When she first arrived, they continued doing it the primitive way by chipping away at it with scalpels and mallets. It was tedious and difficult, and Rain thought she was going to be stuck there all night, bored to tears. Fortunately, the staff received a batch of those anti-DG Cell nanomachines, and the process was sped up considerably. They poured a small amount of the sandy substance over the areas of Rain's body that were encased in metal, and with a few clicks and buzzing noises, the nanites turned the coating into dust while sparing her skin and clothes.

Once she was freed, she had to undergo a decontamination shower while the medical staff disposed of her clothes in an incinerator. Even though any DG Cells on them should have been destroyed, the possibility that a few cells may have survived the anti-nanomachine assault was too great a risk. Even her hairband and earrings had to be destroyed. She was rather miffed about this, but she understood. Besides, she had more outfits just like it at home.

After the shower, Rain had to undergo several runs through a high-powered MRI. The hospital staff wanted to use its magnetic field to pull any last straggling DG Cells off the surface of her body. Finally, she was given an intravenous injection of the anti-nanomachines in saline. They were programmed to track down and destroy any DG Cells that might be circulating in her bloodstream while leaving her normal tissues alone. Once they ran out of power and shut down, they would eventually be filtered out by her spleen.

She was placed in a private room in outbreak isolation for a few hours before she underwent a CT-scan. After another hour, she received the results of her scans: her body looked like it was completely clear of any major DG Cell infections. However, because the cells could exist in microscopic colonies, they were going to have to keep her for a few days to make sure there weren't any growing cells that were hidden somewhere in her body. In the meantime, they downgraded her status to contact isolation, and treated her sprained ankle by putting it in a brace and wrapping a cold compress around it (the scans showed that it wasn't, in fact, broken). Her rope burns from the Dark Gundam's cables had mysteriously healed; she wondered if the DG Cells had anything to do with that.

All in all, the procedure was very similar to the one she had undergone a month and a half ago when she was rescued from the Dark Colony. The only major differences was that the metal coating had to be manually removed, and anti-nanites were introduced. As she gazed around her hospital room, she thought of one more: she was alone this time. Back when the Dark Colony had been destroyed, Rain, Domon and all of her friends had to undergo DG Cell decontamination as a precaution. They all did it together at the same hospital and were lucky enough to get adjacent rooms. They were eventually allowed to visit each other, and they discussed the events of the Gundam Fight as well as their plans afterward. Today, unfortunately, Rain was all by herself. The pilots that rescued her did have to undergo decontamination as well, but she didn't know any of them.

It was now the middle of the night. Rain felt tired, but not sleepy. She was more bored than anything. She tried watching TV to see if today's events made the news. Surely they had to, right? Well...sort of. The mysterious hijacker that stole a bunch of military mobile suits and attacked a cargo ship was reported on, but the reporters were silent about the cargo. The Dark Gundam was also absent from any photos or footage. It was censored, of course; the Gundam was top secret, so they couldn't talk about it on national TV. But she really had to wonder how the Neo Japan government was able to do it - how do you hide an eighty-five ton Gundam that's twice as big as your average mobile suit? And how do you hide it when any random person on the street can make a video of it with their phones? The mind boggled. Then again, this thing managed to hide itself from almost everyone's prying eyes for over a year, and it was much bigger back then. Maybe it wasn't as hard as she thought it was.

She was relieved to see that she did not show up in any of the footage, either. It was probably because most of that footage would be of her running from or getting captured by the Dark Gundam. Whatever the reason, she was just very glad the entire nation didn't see her going on a rampage and tearing apart those Busshi.

The news report went on to say that the culprit behind the attack was unknown and still at large. The authorities were currently blaming the whole ordeal on space pirates. Whoever it was, Rain was not happy with them; if it wasn't for them, the Dark Gundam wouldn't have escaped, and she wouldn't be in this mess.

She turned the TV off; it was just aggravating her. The whole situation aggravated her. She didn't want to think about the Dark Gundam, but it was impossible. She was still worried that it would escape again. Worried that it would make her black out again and recapture her. That not only would she be unable to fight it off this time, but that awful thing would go on to make her brutally kill Domon and all of her friends just like she mutilated those drones. She still wasn't sure how she ended up in that field, but she knew deep down that evil machine had something to do with it. But how?

A knock on the door aroused her from her dark thoughts. Probably a nurse coming in to check up on her.

"Come in," she called.

To her surprise, it wasn't a nurse that walked in. Someone very unexpected, but not at all unwelcome, stepped in instead.

"Domon!" she cried.

Sure enough, it was her Gundam Fighter boyfriend, in the flesh. He had a hospital gown over his clothes and was wearing a pair of rubber gloves. The hospital staff probably made him wear it as a precaution. He looked a little silly with it on, but she didn't care; she didn't even think she would be allowed visitors today, and she was so happy to see him. He was also carrying a large shopping bag with him, which he placed on a chair. She wanted so desperately to leap out of the bed and squeeze him, but she knew she really shouldn't right now. She might still be contaminated.

"I came by as soon as I could, but they said you weren't accepting visitors," he explained as he pulled up a seat next to her bed. "So I went home and got your things." He pointed to the shopping bag. "I got you a change of clothes for when you get outta here."

"Great!" Rain replied. "They had to burn all my clothes because of the DG Cells." She paused before adding, "Did you also bring-?"

"A headband and your earrings?" Domon asked. "Yep, they're in there. I remembered how they had to throw away some of our clothes the last time we fought the Dark Gundam, so I brought extras of everything."

Rain chuckled. "You can read my mind, can't you?"

"I also brought you this," he reached under his gown and pulled Rain's phone from his pocket. She accepted it and placed it on the nightstand next to her.

"Now if you need me for anything, you can just call me!" he added.

"Thanks so much, Domon," Rain said, getting a little misty-eyed. She wanted to kiss him, but again, possible contamination. So she settled for putting her hand on one of his gloved hands.

They sat there for awhile, just holding hands. Eventually, Domon broke the silence by asking, "Do you wanna go first, or should I?"

Figuring she would descend into angry ranting the second she tried to tell her side of the story, she replied with, "Maybe you should go first."

Domon began his tale about what happened after he left that morning and was taken to the Burning Gundam's hangar. The morning had been pretty uneventful. The Burning Gundam was ready to go, but he couldn't suit up unless he got word that something had gone wrong. He spent most of the day hanging around the hangar, waiting for either the all clear sign or an SOS.

During the mid-morning, they received an ominous message that a few military mobile suits had been hijacked off a colony base - the exact same base that their cargo ship had launched from. Immediately everyone at the hangar assumed their ship was about to become a target, and started getting ready for takeoff - even Domon got in the Burning Gundam and almost suited up. Rumors began to run wild about who would pull such a brazen move, and what they wanted. However, tensions began to die down a few hours later when they never received the official SOS.

During his lunch break, however, Domon suddenly received a call, and it all went downhill from there. Mr. Watanabe had called to tell him that Rain had just wandered out of the building in a daze. He said that it almost looked like she was sleepwalking. That scared Domon half to death, as he remembered her "sleepwalking" incident a few days before. Unfortunately, he wasn't allowed to leave the hangar. He asked Mr. Watanabe to check and see if Rain was still around the building and if he could try to wake her up. The neighbor said that he had spotted her getting in the car and driving off. She must have been partially awake, because she seemed to obey the traffic laws. Domon told him that he would try to call her and see if that would snap her out of it.

After he thanked his neighbor and hung up, he tried to call Rain's cell phone. Unfortunately, it went to voice mail. He waited a few minutes before trying again. Nothing. Something was wrong - really wrong.

But just when he was considering calling the cops, the alarms went off. The hangar received an SOS from the cargo ship - it had been attacked. It was going to try to land in a field a far distance away, but they were cut off before they could specify exactly where. The hangar's crew immediately scrambled, either getting themselves ready, or trying to pinpoint where the ship was going to try to land.

Another few minutes passed, and the cargo ship managed to contact them again. The crew informed the hangar exactly where they landed, and that they were being attacked by a small squadron of mobile suits that were much harder to hit than any mobile suit had the right to be. It was thought that they might be the mechs that were hijacked earlier. Whoever they were, they seemed to be after their "precious" cargo, so they needed backup immediately. With that, the fleet began to take off. Domon was sent with them, just in case the mysterious assailants managed to get the cargo loose.

Just as he was in line for lift off, the hangar received word from the ship that a civilian had wandered into the battle. The ship then gave them all video feed from the pilots out in the field - and Domon immediately recognized who that "civilian" was. At first he was completely flabbergasted. Was he seeing things? How could _she_ have possibly gotten out there? But there was no mistaking it. He recognized the signature magenta dress and turquoise vest, as well as her profile. It was definitely Rain!

Fit to be tied, Domon broke formation, wanting to fly off on his own. Other pilots quickly stopped him, telling him that if he stepped out of line, he could crash into somebody. Domon started to argue with them when more bad news presented itself: the Dark Gundam had not only escaped the ship, but it had also captured and _absorbed_ Rain as well. Enraged, Domon broke free of the other pilots and flew toward the field as fast as the Burning Gundam's thrusters could take him. He didn't know what would happen when he got there. He dreaded the idea of facing another Dark Colony without his friends. But in the end, it didn't matter; he needed to save Rain!

Fortunately, there were no colonies when he got there. He found the Dark Gundam in that bipedal form that he had encountered last time. It couldn't stand up, but his long-range cameras showed him that it had Rain and several other people on the ground in its clutches. With that, he flew down and cut the cables himself. He saw that the Dark Gundam suddenly shut down afterward, but like Rain, he figured that it was just playing dead. That's why, after he made sure Rain was okay, he tried to finish off the horrible machine.

Unfortunately, the military personnel were adamant about keeping the Dark Gundam. After Rain had been taken to the hospital, he continued arguing with them until a small squadron of them surrounded him and blocked his way. They said that they understood his concern, but orders were orders. Also, they still weren't too happy that he flew off by himself like that. He wasn't sure if they were going to punish him for it or not, though.

"Not sure where the Dark Gundam even is right now. They didn't tell me for obvious reasons," Domon sighed. "I really hope this incident makes them all realize they need to just scrap the thing and be done with it. It's too dangerous to have around!"

"I know, I hope so too," Rain replied. "But I'm not gonna hold my breath."

"What about you, Rain?" Domon asked. "How did you get there? I thought you weren't gonna go anywhere today!"

As Rain tried to figure out where to even begin, she found herself growing more and more frustrated. Finally she just blurted out, "That giant _hussy_ brainwashed me somehow! I don't know how she did it, but she did it!"

Domon jumped a little at the outburst. "Uh...who's 'she'?" he asked.

"I-I mean, the Dark Gundam," Rain answered, trying to calm herself down.

"...The Dark Gundam is a girl now?" Domon said, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm sorry, it's just that...the thing talks in my voice," Rain explained, "so I started thinking of her - I mean it, as female."

Domon's eyes widened. "The Dark Gundam can talk?!"

"Well, sort of," Rain said. "Ugh, let me start from the beginning."

Rain told Domon about the hallucinations she had been having in better detail. She told him about the weird incident a few weeks ago with the spilled tea. Then she described the nightmare she had when she was "sleepwalking." She even told him about Kyoji and how he was trying to warn her about the Dark Gundam. Domon looked a little disturbed by that, but he let her continue.

She talked about today's hallucination. Of how when she went to get coffee, the room suddenly went dark and the living room was filled with silver monsters. Of how when the Dark Gundam spoke to her, she suddenly felt very tired. Of how Kyoji tried to help her, but was captured by a fake Master Asia. Of how she fell asleep on a chair and woke up in the middle of a battlefield.

She talked about how she tried to get as far away from the battle as possible, only to run right into the downed cargo ship and the Dark Gundam escaping from it. She was forced to run right back to the battle as vile mech dragged itself after her. One of the few remaining pilots tried to help her, but he was gunned down by one of those drones. The Dark Gundam saved her from being squished, but it was only so it could assimilate her.

With a slight smile on her face, she described how she gave the Gundam a hard time - ripping out cables and pulling the silver slime off of her. She mentioned how it used her own voice to communicate with her, and how it seemed to speak directly into her mind. She gingerly told Domon about fighting the Busshi drones and destroying them. She told him that she was still convinced the Dark Gundam made her go berserk, like it did to its other victims. Finally, she told him how she was able to escape with the help of Dr. Kasshu's anti-nanomachines (and that she sprained her ankle on the way down). She almost got away too, until the monster caused her metal coating to completely harden around her, making her unable to move. The surviving pilots from the Busshi battle tried to help her, but the Dark Gundam eventually overwhelmed them all. Fortunately, that's when Domon showed up and saved the day.

"That's about it," she said. "I really don't know how I got from the apartment to that field."

"You drove," Domon answered.

"I...did?" Rain looked at him, confused.

"Yeah, one of the scouts told me they found an abandoned car in a picnic area near the field," he replied. "They ran the license plates and found out it was our car. I had it towed back to our place."

"I _drove_ while hypnotized?!" Rain cried. "Oh my goodness, I could've crashed!"

"But hey, you didn't!" Domon reassured her. "And now you can tell everybody you can literally drive better than them in your sleep!"

She smiled a little at the joke. "Thanks, Domon," she said, "but I'm really worried that this isn't the end. The Dark Gundam might be contained, but...what if it hypnotizes me again? I still don't know how it's able to do it! I know I was its life unit, but..."

"I don't really have an answer for that," Domon sighed. "I can ask my father to look into it for you...hopefully he can figure out what it did. In the meantime, all I can say is what I've said before." He reached over and took her hand in his gloved palm. "We can get through this."

Rain squeezed his hand in return. "I...I hope so," she said. "I'm worried that next time...next time it'll make me go crazy! What if it makes me attack you?!"

"Then I'll wake you up!" Domon replied. "Trust me, I'm just as worried about the Dark Gundam escaping - especially since it's top secret and they expect me not to tell the other Shuffle Alliance members about it." He held her hand in both palms. "But until it's finally destroyed, I promise you I'll do everything in my power to make sure it doesn't get you again! Okay?"

Rain smiled again, getting misty-eyed. "Okay," she said. She really wanted to give him a kiss on the cheek, but again, it was best not to do that while she could still be contaminated. She settled for giving him a kiss on one of his gloved hands.

* * *

Domon stayed there for as long as he was allowed to. When the news came back on, they watched the report on the cargo ship attack together. Rain elaborated a bit more on what happened during the battle. She also had to fill in the blanks, as the reports still carefully danced around any mention of the Dark Gundam. They both wondered who it was that attacked the ship, and what they wanted. Did they even know what was in there, or were they actually after the Dark Gundam? Was it actually space pirates? Was it...Argo that did that? Maybe he found out somehow that the horrible Gundam was still functional and tried to destroy it himself! But no...Argo had his own ship and crew; hijacking and reprogramming a bunch of mobile suits would be unnecessary. Besides, he would have recognized Rain when she wandered out there, and would have tried to rescue her.

Once visiting hours were up, he told Rain that he would be back to see her tomorrow, and reminded her that if she needed anything, she could give him a call at anytime. The nurses practically had to drag him out of her room, he was so reluctant to leave.

Rain wasn't sure how she was going to get to sleep after everything that happened. She still had a lot on her mind, most of it worries. She tried closing her eyes and thinking about something relaxing, like being back at home with Domon. She tried to push the Dark Gundam out of her mind as much as she could. It seemed to work well enough, because she was able to slowly drift off to sleep.

She found herself waking up in the middle of the night. She didn't think anything of it, at first; it's not like she hadn't randomly woken up before. She planned on just going right back to sleep, but she noticed she wasn't tired. She felt freezing cold instead. In addition, there was an annoyingly bright light right above her head; it was if there was a spotlight hovering right over her bed. She closed her eyes tight and instinctively reached for her blanket so she could throw it over her head to block the cold and the glare.

But...her arms wouldn't budge! Something that felt like ropes were tied tightly around her forearms, preventing her from moving. She could also feel them around her ankles, tying her legs together. And if that wasn't enough, she suddenly realized she wasn't lying down in a bed, she was _standing up_ , her bonds supporting her.

She quickly opened her eyes. Directly in front of her was nothing but darkness; she couldn't even see the outline of her room's window. Thanks to the bright light, she could at least see the area immediately around her. What she saw was some very familiar green cables all around her, and an equally familiar silver shell covering her entire body.

Rain screamed and began to struggle against her restraints. It was all in vain though, as they held her fast. The liquid silver hadn't hardened or blinded her yet, but that was a very small comfort. She could practically feel the metal ooze seeping through her skin and coursing through her veins, threatening to turn her into a machine.

"Why-? How did I get here?! How did this happen?!" she cried, immediately wincing afterward at how metallic her voice sounded. She had to have been captured by the Dark Gundam again, but how did it do it without her knowing? It would not only have had to escape its prison, but it would have had to demolish the hospital - there was no way she could have slept through that! Did it hypnotize her again so she wouldn't run away?

Suddenly, a deep voice rang out in the darkness. "Calm down, Rain! This is only a dream!"

She stopped fighting when she recognized the voice. "Kyoji?"

Sure enough, the ghostly form of Kyoji materialized in front of her. "You are still in bed asleep...for now."

It made sense; it explained how she was inside the Dark Gundam without hearing it come for her as well as why she could still move somewhat and see. It still raised a few questions, however.

"If this is a dream, why does it feel so real?" she asked. "And why aren't I waking up?" Every time her dreams started to go lucid before, she would always wake up. It was like clockwork.

"Because this is not a normal dream," Kyoji explained. "This vision is a representation of the Dark Gundam's neural network. You are connected to it, and what you are seeing is your brain trying to make sense of it."

"I'm connected to the Dark Gundam? But how?"

Kyoji's face darkened. "There are small amounts of DG Cells still left in your brainstem and spine from the first time you were its core unit. It's through these cells that the Dark Gundam can take control of you and send you orders."

"Oh. That's why." Rain's heart sank. She had been batting around the idea that the Gundam was controlling her through hidden DG Cells, but she dismissed it when nothing appeared on her scans. But then she remembered that if the quantities were small enough, they could easily hide from scans. Worse yet, the DG Cells had infected her brain, and in places it was impossible to remove them from. Trying to surgically remove them would kill her. Even injecting the anti-nanomachines in that area would be too dangerous.

"Your DG Cells aren't replicating, so you're not in any danger of going berserk or turning into a machine," Kyoji continued. "However, the Dark Gundam is currently trying to send you orders subconsciously. It wants you to go to the facility where it is imprisoned and set it free. I am currently interfering with its commands, but it will only be a matter of time before it finds me again. We need to find a way to disconnect you before it gains control of you."

It was just as she feared - it wasn't over. The Dark Gundam was still trying to hypnotize her, and with those DG Cells in her brain, it could do it whenever it wanted. It didn't matter how many cages they locked it in, it would simply take control of her and force her to set it free. And once it was out, it would waste no time in making her its core again. It would repeat this as many times as necessary until it created a Dark Colony that no one, not even the Shuffle Alliance, could destroy. And it absolutely would not stop, ever, until all humans were dead.

Rain felt her anger surging back. How dare it try to use her like this! She wasn't some piece of hardware that it could just install into itself whenever it felt like! And how dare it try to use her to kill her friends, her family...her entire species!

"You don't need to tell me twice!" she yelled to Kyoji. With that, she summoned the strength to rip her arms free of the cables. She then reached down and tore them off of her legs. She tend stepped up to her ghostly friend and grabbed him by the arm. Since this was a dream, she could touch him now.

"C'mon, Kyoji. We're getting out of here!" she said. And with that, she flew straight up into the air with him in tow. Because again, this was a dream; she could fly if she wanted to!

A moment later, she felt herself hit something above her, almost like a ceiling. Whatever it was, it was soft, and she ripped right through it like tissue paper. She continued to fly up into more darkness, but thanks to dream logic, she knew it was actually the "sky."

Rain hovered in midair with Kyoji and looked down. Beneath them was the lake of silver that she hallucinated before. Directly below them was the silver Dark Gundam, which now had a hole in its back. It seemed to be alone this time; if its friends were there, she couldn't see them.

Speaking of the Dark Gundam...Rain reached up and peeled the silver shell off of her face. With a good tug, she ripped the whole thing off her body in one big gooey piece. Underneath the metal was her pink and magenta Gundam fight suit. She hurled the shed coating down to the lake below.

"Ugh, I don't like silver anymore!" she told Kyoji, her voice no longer tinny.

The shell curled itself into a ball in midair and flew down to the Dark Gundam's shoulder. There, it started to form a humanoid shape. Rain felt sickened when she realized what it was turning itself into - a silver version of herself with glowing green eyes. First it stole her voice, now it (...she?) was mocking her form.

 _Why must you insist on resisting me?_ her doppelganger asked in that distorted voice.

"Because I'm not your slave!" Rain barked at it. "And I'm not about to let you use me to kill every human on this planet! Now you better disconnect me from your network before I _really_ get mad!"

 _Why ever would you want to disconnect?_ her "twin" asked. _We made an excellent team when we fought those drones, did we not? They were not normal mobile suits, and not even a Neo Japanese military fleet could effectively destroy them. Yet we destroyed three of them within minutes of each other._

"You made me do that!" Rain shouted as she pointed to her ghost partner. "Kyoji here told me all about the DG Cells that are still in my brain!"

The Dark Gundam and its avatar glared at Kyoji. He just impassively stared back at them, but Rain could sense he was frightened.

 _I thought I erased you from my memory banks,_ the false Rain said. _No matter, I will just delete you again._ It turned to the real Rain. _As for your DG Cells, it is true that there is a minute quantity of them in your brain, which I use to communicate with you. But I did not need to activate their berserker function. As I said before, your desire to destroy those mobile suits was your own._

"That's enough out of you!" Rain yelled. "Disconnect me now, or else!"

 _And if I refuse?_ the avatar had no pupils, yet it felt like it was rolling its eyes at her.

"Well, if you won't do it yourself...," Rain raised her arm straight up and snapped her fingers, just like she saw Domon do a hundred times before.

 **"COME, RISING GUNDAM!"**

Instantly, a Gundam with a red torso and extra-long pauldrons appeared behind her and Kyoji. There was a heat naginata on its back, and a folded beam bow on its left arm. It opened its chest, and the two humans floated into its cockpit. Rain placed herself neatly into the mech's mobile trace system while Kyoji stood next to it. The chestplates closed behind them, and the panoramic view screen came up, allowing them to see the Dark Gundam again.

"...Then I'll just have to fight you until you do!" Rain shouted down at the monster as took the naginata off her Gundam's back and brandished it.

 _You are continuing to behave irrationally,_ the silver copy sneered at her. The sneer then turned into an amused smirk. _But I suppose I can humor you. I found our earlier battle against the drones pleasant enough, and I have never been formally challenged to a Gundam fight. It pleases me that you are the first._

There was a low rumbling noise as huge pillars began to rise out of the silver sea. They completely encircled both Rain and the Dark Gundam. Liquid metal cables shot out of the sides of each pillar, connecting them to one another. It was a fighting ring! Rain lowered the Rising Gundam until it was about eye level with the enemy.

 _Gundam fight all set?!_ the avatar yelled to her, still smirking.

"READY!" Rain shouted back, readying her blade.

" _GO!_ "

Just as Rain was about to charge at the Dark Gundam, a giant blob of metal arose from the lake below, forcing her to stop in her tracks. It formed itself into that massive Gundam with the long horns and cannons on its back. The upper half of a metallic Gentle Chapman was poking out of the top of the mech's head. Seeing him reminded her of where she saw this monstrosity before; it appeared during George's fight against Chapman during the finals in Neo Hong Kong. It had tried to hide itself under a blanket of black smoke, but it was so huge that everyone saw it anyway. For some reason, she knew it was called the "Grand Gundam," though she didn't remember anybody telling her its name before.

She had barely any time to react when the huge horns shot forward and tried to skewer her. She managed to fly out of their way, but the horns still grazed one of her arms.

"Hey! You can't bring your friends in here!" Rain cried. "That's not fair!"

 _You did not specify that this would be a one-on-one match,_ the Dark Gundam's disembodied voice explained. _Besides, you have your own ally with you._

Rain had no time to fume over her opponents' loophole abuse, as the Grand Gundam began firing its cannons at her. It fired large mechanical hands on long chains that were trying to snatch her out of the air. She was forced to retreat.

"It's probably talking about me," Kyoji said, "but I'm afraid I'm not going to be much help. I don't have Schwartz's battle data, so I can't create the Shadow Gundam."

"That's alright, Kyoji," Rain replied. "This is my fight anyway."

It was then that one of the hands grabbed the Rising Gundam by the ankle. Both Rain and Kyoji were thrown forward by the sudden stop. The silver Chapman roared as the Grand Gundam then hurled them high into air. At first, Rain was confused as to why it would do that instead of just skewering her again. But then she heard a screechy voice above her, and she realized why.

" **HYPER SPECTRUM BEAM KICK SPECIAL!** "

A tall, thin Gundam with a very long, pointy helmet slammed into the Rising Gundam foot first, driving it down into the liquid metal. She was surprised in that she actually felt some vague pain from the kick.

The thin Gundam leaped back into the air where it curled up into a big silver ball and reformed as a bird-like mech with blades for feathers. She realized that she had seen this Gundam before as well - it was when Domon fought Michelo in the Gundam Fight finals. Like its bigger comrade, it too tried to hide under a smokescreen, only to be seen anyway. In fact, Rain could see that the silver Michelo was riding on its back, a sleazy grin plastered on his shiny, reflective face. This thing was called the "Soaring Raven Gundam," though again, she didn't understand how she knew that.

"Now I have to deal with two of them?!" she cried. She was really starting to get angry now. The Dark Gundam said it was bad at lying, but it certainly was good at cheating!

She was about to make her Gundam stand up out of the mire when she suddenly felt herself being held down. The metal slime was crawling all over her mobile suit's body, tying her down. To make matters worse, the Grand Gundam was slowly lumbering toward her on all fours, two of its cannons charging.

"What...what do I do?!" Rain cried. What would happen if that thing blew her up? She was in a dream, so she couldn't die, right? Would she instantly lose her free will to the Dark Gundam again?

"Rain! Don't let them intimidate you!" Kyoji said. "Remember where you are!"

Of course! Like she just got through thinking, this was a _dream_ \- she could do anything here. The Dark Gundam was invading her subconscious, but it probably didn't understand how human subconsciousness worked. Time to teach it a lesson!

With a burst of mental energy, Rain made the Rising Gundam tear right through the metal strings and jump up out of the silver liquid. She then flew high into the air as the Grand Gundam fired huge beams out of its cannons. She sailed right over its head and landed on its back. She remembered how she was able to take out Michelo yesterday in one punch, so these things were probably weak. She raised her naginata and stabbed the Grand Gundam right between its horns.

All it accomplished was making the metal Chapman to let out another angry roar and for the mech to start shaking violently, trying to get her off of it. Rain jumped off and hovered in the air behind it. Okay, so it looked like the silver Gundams were much tougher than the humans; she'd have to come up with a better plan.

Suddenly, she heard Michelo screeching, "You'll hafta do better than _that,_ girlie!" A second later, the Raven Gundam flew out of the darkness. It was coming right for her, claws outstretched. Meanwhile, she heard Chapman growling as he slowly turned the Grand Gundam around, charging all four of its cannons this time.

Instantly, she had a plan.

"Hang on to something, Kyoji!" she said to her ghostly friend as she...patiently continued hovering and waited. The Raven Gundam swooped down for the kill. The Grand Gundam's cannons finished charging.

Kyoji shot her a confused look as he held on to one of the trace system's rings. "Um, Rain...?" he said nervously, watching their two foes closing in on them.

And then, just as the former was mere feet away from her, and the latter opened fire, Rain flew straight up.

"NO!" the fake Michelo screamed as the beams came right at him. He tried to avoid them, but it was too late. They tore right through his Gundam, splattering it and him everywhere. They fell down into the lake in amorphous heaps. Meanwhile, the silver Chapman stared into the empty space where his comrade had been, flabbergasted. Well, _trying_ to look flabbergasted. It was a dull kind of shock that made him look like he had been hit by a fish rather than being tricked into shooting his ally. Either way, he was distracted.

"You really had me worried for a second, there!" Kyoji laughed nervously. "But what about Chapman?"

"Don't worry, I'll deal with him in a second!" Rain assured the ghost.

Rain landed the Rising Gundam on his back again, her naginata ready. Chapman wasted no time in trying to shake her off of him. Rain responded by raising her weapon and chopping off something that wouldn't grow back so easily - the Gundam's head! Chapman made a terrified scream as he and the head component fell into metal sea. Meanwhile, the body melted into a shapeless silver heap. She couldn't help feel a little sorry for the guy; sure, he was kind of a cheater in life, but he didn't deserve to have his body desecrated and reanimated by DG Cells.

"That's two down," Kyoji remarked. "Two to go."

Two more? Rain then remembered the other Gundams from her first vivid hallucination. There were indeed four of them. The Raven and Grand Gundams were the ones she hadn't recognized right away. That meant the other two were...

" _Rain, look out!_ " Kyoji suddenly shouted, his eyes wide.

A split-second later, a metal sphere with two long spikes sticking out of its sides came hurtling out of the darkness, right at the Rising Gundam's chest! Rain just barely managed to jump out of the way. One of the spikes still scratched her Gundam right across the chest, but thankfully didn't tear it open.

The silver ball roared as it flew past her in a distorted female voice. The ball opened horizontally, revealing the torso of the bizarre Walter Gundam. It sprouted its three legs, extended its tentacle arms, and opened its long claws. It retracted its faceplate to reveal its mouthful of metal fangs.

"Fight me, Rain!" the echoing voice taunted her as the mech opened its claws to reveal the lasers in its palms. "C'mon! You know you want to!"

"Allenby...?" Rain immediately recognized the strange voice as Allenby's in her berserker mode. But where was she? This Gundam didn't seem to have its pilot riding on it like the last two.

"What's wrong? Are ya scared?!" Allenby's disembodied voice continued as the Walter Gundam's lasers began to charge. "Fight me like you did last time!"

The Gundam began to rapidly fire lasers at Rain. Thinking quickly, Rain put her naginata on her back and made the Rising Gundam detach its long pauldrons. She took them off and put them together to form her shield. She used it to block the oncoming laser fire. She shouldn't be bothering trying to negotiate with this thing; if there was an Allenby in there, it would be that fake silver one from yesterday. On the other hand, it was a copy of a friend, not an enemy. Was it possible to talk to her instead of fight her? On the _other_ other hand, even the real Allenby couldn't be talked to in her berserker state...

The Walter Gundam stopped firing when that none of its attacks were getting through and curled itself into a ball again. It hurled itself at her, spinning as it went. Due to Rain being distracted, it was able to successfully ram the Rising Gundam head on, knocking it off balance and sending it toppling over backwards. Rain was able to stop herself in midair and get back on her feet before she hit the liquid metal. However, she accidentally dropped her shield, which fell right into the lake below. It was quickly consumed by the silver.

"No, Allenby! We don't have to do this!" Rain cried. "You might not be real, but you're still a friend! We don't need to fight each other like this!"

"Too bad!" Allenby's voice screamed as the Walter Gundam uncurled itself again. "Because I _want_ to fight you!"

It started firing at Rain again. With no shield, she was forced to fly straight up and out of the way.

"Don't let it fool you, Rain!" Kyoji suddenly said. "That's not Allenby in any way, shape, or form. This is the Dark Gundam trying to cow you into surrendering!"

"R-right. I just thought it was worth a try." Now that Rain thought about it, that was probably what the Dark Gundam wanted her to do. It probably saw how reluctant she was to fight the fake Allenby from yesterday and was using it against her.

Once again, the Walter Gundam curled itself up and flung itself at her. Its tentacle arms were out this time, probably in order to grab her or clothesline her if she tried to dodge. So Rain didn't bother retreating this time. Instead, she waited until the Walter Gundam got close enough before punting the thing like a soccer ball. The fake Allenby stopped roaring and let out a confused grunt.

Rain then put away her naginata, and unfolded her beam bow. "You want me to fight you just like last time?" she growled. "Fine, that's what you'll get! But I warn you, the real version _lost_ that battle!"

She waited patiently the Walter Gundam recovered from its confusion and launched itself at her again. She waited for it to come closer so it couldn't dodge.

" **ULTIMATE BULLSEYE!** " she yelled. " **RISING ARR-** "

But just as she had the thing dead in her sights, a sheet of liquid metal wrapped around her beam bow and snatched it right out of the Rising Gundam's hands.

"What the-?!" Rain cried. It was now her turn to be confused.

Her confusion didn't last long however, as the Walter Gundam slammed into her, knocking her down into the silver sea. She stood back up as quick as she could so that the slime wouldn't try to drag her down into its depths again. But no sooner did she get back on her feet than that metal sheet flung out of the darkness again and wrapped itself around the Rising Gundam's upper body, pinning her arms to her sides. She struggled to break free, but it held her too tight. Meanwhile, the ooze from the lake slowly started to crawl up her mobile suit's feet.

"Don't even bother to get up!" a gruff metallic voice scoffed at her.

Rain recognized that voice too. Sure enough, a silver version of the Master Gundam appeared from the gloom, that metal version of Master Asia riding on its shoulder. It was holding the other end of sheet that had her tied up. Of course...this was the last of the four Gundams she saw in her first vision.

"If you're smart, you'll just surrender now!" the fake Master Asia sneered at her.

"Never!" Rain barked. "I'll never give into you or the Dark Gundam!"

"You might want to reconsider!" the metal Master taunted her. "If you don't give up, I'll be your next opponent...and you've seen what I'm capable of! You've seen me destroy Dark Army mobile suits without even being in one! You fought me once before in the Shining Gundam and failed miserably! Even Domon couldn't defeat me until the very end! What makes you think you would even stand a ghost of a chance?!"

Rain glanced at Kyoji. They both nodded at each other. She then turned back to the fake Asia and said, "Because this is a dream, and I can do whatever I want!"

With a massive burst of energy, the Rising Gundam broke free of the silver Master's sash and any liquid metal that had crawled up its legs. It also turned gold, as it had entered hyper mode. Rain wasn't sure if the Rising Gundam even had a hyper mode, but it did now!

She saw the silver Master sneering at her from his perch on the Master Gundam's shoulders. She reminded herself that the real Master Asia died during the final battle of the Gundam Fight - Domon told her the tragic news after she was rescued from the Dark Colony. This thing in front of her was just a cheap knockoff that wasn't nearly as powerful as the original.

Her Gundam's right hand began to glow a bright blue. She clenched it threateningly. She thought about saying a mantra, but she couldn't think of a good one. Repeating the ones Domon always said seemed rather unimaginative, so she just decided to skip it. She charged at the false Master and his mech with her glowing hand out in front of her.

" **RISING FING** -"

She suddenly felt sharp pain in her forearm and nearly fell over when something grabbed the Rising Gundam by its attacking arm. The Walter Gundam had decided to make its reappearance (quietly, for once) and cancelled out Rain's attack by clamping its jaws down on her Gundam's arm. Her hand stopped glowing as her Rising Finger completely fizzled out.

Master Asia began to laugh at her. "Oh, that's just rich!" he cackled. "You can't even get through one attack!"

Rain ignored him. She still had her hyper mode, she could still do this. She continued her charge at the Masters. Since the Walter Gundam refused to let go of her arm, she dragged it along for the ride.

The fake Master stopped laughing. "What do you think you're doing?" he snarled at her, annoyed.

"Laugh this off!" Rain snapped as she lunged forward.

And with that, she slammed the Master Gundam upside its head with Walter Gundam. Master Asia was completely taken by surprise and fell right off his reeling mech's shoulder, sputtering angry as he hung onto one of its wings. Allenby's distorted voice was now groaning instead of roaring, but the three-legged mech was still stubbornly clinging to Rain's arm.

The battered Master Gundam quickly regained its composure and one of its clawed hands began to glow purple. Rain didn't even give it a chance; she continued to whack the bat-like Gundam right between its huge ears with its own ally until eventually both it and its pilot melted into liquid silver. Hopelessly banged up from being used as a mace, the Walter Gundam followed suit. It finally let go of the Rising Gundam when its head became an amorphous blob and slid off its arm.

"That should be all of them!" Kyoji said.

"Alright!" Rain cheered. "Let's take out the Dark Gundam now before it calls for any more friends!"

But before Rain charged into the next battle, she decided to regenerate her missing shield and bow. Since the enemy was using silver liquid, why make them out of gold dust? There was a soft magnetic hum as glittering golden sand materialized around the Rising Gundam, which regenerated the pauldrons on her shoulders and the bow on her arm. She readied her naginata again and charged directly at the unguarded Dark Gundam in the center of the sea.

 _Aren't you forgetting someone?_ it suddenly asked.

Rain skidded to a halt as a massive mountain of metal rose up in front of her. She looked to Kyoji for answers, but he looked as confused as she did.

The silver liquid formed itself into an enormous, freakish machine that was bigger than the Dark Gundam itself. It seemed to be made up of parts from the four mobile suits that Rain just defeated. The upper body of the Master Gundam was poking out of the Grand Gundam's body. The Raven Gundam's wings were slapped on its back, and its giant claws were poking out of its sides. It had a long cord-like tail that ended in a legless Walter Gundam, whose jaws now seemed to open wider than ever.

"What _is_ that thing?!" Rain cried. In her shock, the Rising Gundam returned to normal.

The giant monster wasted no time in trying to skewer her with the horns on its back. She jumped out of the way, only for it to launch its giant feather blades at her. She managed to dodge them, but a few of them still nicked her, putting deep cuts in the Rising Gundam's armor. After the combiner had finished shooting all of the blades on its wings, it instantly grew them back and started firing off the next round.

"I think it's called the 'Grand Master Gundam,'" Kyoji explained. "I saw its file, but I was never able to access it. I didn't realize those things could combine!"

"Grand Master..." Rain suddenly realized that she had seen this monster before. After the Dark Gundam had absorbed the Neo Japan colony, Major Ulube had created it from the main power generator. He then used it to attack Domon and the rest of the Shuffle Alliance who were on their way to save her. They destroyed it somehow, but it was revived a few minutes later. She wasn't there, yet she somehow remembered it. She wondered if she knew this because of her connection to the Dark Gundam.

One of the feather blades slashed the Rising Gundam across its back. Rain snarled and unfolded her beam bow. It was time to stop dodging and start fighting back. As it paused to regenerate its blades, she rapidly fired as many beam arrows as she could at it. Being a big target, it was easy to hit. Most of the arrows struck its chest, its front legs, and its wings. However, its gelatinous body quickly sealed up any damage done to it.

Okay...if arrows didn't work, maybe chopping off a few limbs or heads might! She put away her bow, grabbed her naginata, and charged right at the beast. The Master Gundam portion of the giant monster retaliated by firing huge black beams at her with both hands - it was some sort of variant of the Darkness Finger.

Rain flew around the beams and right over the Grand Master's head. The abomination stopped to try and turn around, but its enormous, bulky, slapped-together body made it difficult. Rain took that opportunity to fly right behind its Master Gundam component. She chopped off its bat wings, as they were it her way before chopping off its head.

"Gotcha!" she shouted.

However, the Grand Master Gundam did not melt away. Instead, the monstrosity continued to stand there, relatively solid despite its decapitation.

"No? That didn't do it?" Rain said. "Well...maybe I have to cut something else off!"

She readied her blade again, but paused when she suddenly heard ghostly laughter all around her. She recognized the laughing voices as Michelo, Allenby, and Master Asia.

"What's...going on?" Rain asked, cautiously looking around.

"I...I don't know," Kyoji replied as he stationed himself behind her and watched the rear screens.

A moment later, the Master Gundam section picked up its severed head. It held it up, facing the Rising Gundam. Its face began to melt and warp gruesomely until it looked like Master Asia with two chrome bat ears sticking out of his head. If Rain was awake, she knew her hair would be standing on end.

"Is _that_ all you've got?!" the disembodied head jeered at her.

"Behind you!" Kyoji suddenly yelled.

Unfortunately, it was too late. Just as Rain turned the Rising Gundam around, the Walter Gundam "tail" sunk its teeth into her midsection. The toothy mech's head had also undergone a grotesque mutation, adding Allenby's hair and some of her facial features but keeping its wide jaw. It dragged the Rising Gundam in front of the combiner's massive horns. Rain saw bolts of energy crackle between them and heard the ominous humming of some sort of attack powering up. She had to get out of here - quick!

Fortunately for her, she had managed to hang onto her naginata. She poked the freakish mech in one of its disturbingly human-like eyes with the blunt end of the pole. It let out a shriek and let go of her. Just as she was about to fly away, however, the Grand Master fired a gigantic beam from between its horns. Despite being asleep, she felt a muted burning sensation all over her body. She fell over onto her back and the severely burned Rising Gundam fell out of the black sky. It landed with a splash in the silver lake below.

Rain felt Kyoji sit her up in his arms and try to get her to come to her senses, but she didn't know if she could. She couldn't be tired, but she did feel like she was about to lose consciousness. The world around her was blurry, and Kyoji's voice was muffled. She felt as if her dream was going to disappear at any second.

She noticed a dark shadow blotting out the view from her screens. At first, she thought she was finally going under, but then her vision slowly started to clear up and focus. The shadow was actually one of the Grand Master Gundam's feet. It was about to step on them and crush them. With her last ounce of mental energy, she forced the Rising Gundam to tear through the liquid metal and fly out from under the foot.

Once she was a safe distance away, Rain made the Rising Gundam hover in place. She could just barely make it stand up straight and float above the metallic ooze. Parts of it was turning translucent, as if it was about to phase out of existence. At some point, she had lost her heat naginata; no doubt it had been devoured by the silver muck when she fell. Inside the cockpit, she had to lean against Kyoji in order to stay on her feet.

What was going on here? She thought she could do anything in a dream! Then again, she was fighting against a real outside presence invading her mind. Maybe in this case, there were limits to what she could do. If that was true, how could she ever win?

She looked up to see that the Grand Master Gundam was looking more and more hideous by the minute. It now had Chapman's giant, misshapen head and arms sticking out of its lower body. It now had a huge, bulging eye on each wing, which she assumed belonged to Michelo.

"What am I gonna do?" she asked Kyoji. "None of my attacks damage that thing...!"

 _You should surrender, that's what you should do,_ the Dark Gundam's voice suddenly echoed through the cockpit. _My Grand Master Gundam is impervious to all of your attacks, and if you cannot defeat it, you will never defeat me. At this point, you cannot win our little Gundam fight. I believe the correct phrase for this situation is "you should just throw in the towel."_

Rain was too out of it to think of any snappy comebacks. Thankfully, Kyoji had her covered. "No one asked YOU!" he barked at it.

A plan slowly started to form in Rain's mind. She could remember things about the Grand Master Gundam despite never laying eyes on it possibly thanks to the Dark Gundam's network. Some of these things were of Domon and the Shuffle Alliance defeating it - several times in fact, because it could regenerate. But how did they do it? She searched the memories-she-shouldn't-have for the answer. Apparently, Domon and his friends all went into hyper mode at once and blew it up with some sort of combination attack. The problem was that the Shuffle Alliance wasn't here.

...Or to be more accurate, they weren't here physically. But because this was a dream, they could be here in spirit! Rain just hoped she had enough strength to pull this off; she was having trouble just keeping the Rising Gundam together.

She held tightly to Kyoji as she concentrated with all her might. There was a soft hum of microscopic magnets as the glowing golden sand began to rain down from the darkness above them. The sparkling dust repaired all of the damage to the Rising Gundam, reformed its naginata, and put it into hyper mode. It then put a second pair of horns on its head and gave it six thin wings complete with a rainbow halo between them - it now somewhat resembled the Burning Gundam. Rain also made the sand come into the cockpit, where it began to coalesce into a humanoid form. Kyoji's eyes widened when he realized who it was forming into. Outside, the sand buzzed and clicked as it began to assemble four other mobile suits on either side of the "Burning Rising Gundam."

The Grand Master Gundam seemed to realize what Rain was doing, as all of its twisted faces suddenly looked frightened. "Don't you dare, _don't you dare!_ " the Master Asia head screamed as it put itself back on its shoulders in order to free up its hands. It then fired everything it had at Rain: its feather blades, the enormous beam from its horns, and the black beam from the Master Gundam's hands. However, the gold sand managed to neutralize its attacks. With a soft buzzing sound, it reduced all of the blades into dust and deflected away the beams.

The four golden mobile suits finished forming. They were replicas of the other four Gundams of the Shuffle Alliance: Gundam Maxter, Gundam Rose, the Dragon Gundam, and the Bolt Gundam. All of them were completely gold, just as the Dark Gundam and its minions were solid silver. They rippled and shimmered all over just like Dr. Kasshu's anti-nanomachines. Inside each one was a copy of their respective pilots, also gold and shimmering. Inside Rain's cockpit, the sand had created a golden copy of Domon (which Kyoji examined thoughtfully). Perhaps it was due to Rain's fatigued subconscious, but the Shuffle Alliance humans looked a little...off. They had dark lines outlining their musculature, and they all had blank, opaque white eyes. Rain just shrugged it off. This was a dream, after all; some things were going to be weird or not quite right.

The gold pilots each raised one hand, which began to glow brightly. "Our spirits are aflame! If we can feel the fire, there is nothing we cannot defeat!" they all said simultaneously. Their voices all had an electronic buzz to them, as if they were speaking through an auto-tune device.

They clenched their fists, which displayed their respective Shuffle crests. The Grand Master Gundam's faces looked terrified; now it was _its_ turn to be helpless. Rejuvenated and excited, Rain began to join in on her friends' mantra.

"And now this hand of mine is burning red!" the golden Shuffle Alliance continued. "Its loud roar tells me to grasp victory!"

" **ERUPTING...** "

An ominous blue glow surrounded the five Gundams.

" **...SHUFFLE ALLIANCE ATTACK!** "

The Gundams created a wall of prismatic blue light that extended the width and height of the battlefield. It created waves of liquid metal as it expanded out toward their opponent. The Grand Master Gundam fired its beams at the attack hoping to cancel it out or at least shove the wall back, but the light continued advancing undeterred. The blue energy tore through the abominable combination of man and machine, turning it into dust. Once the monster was gone, the attack dissipated. Unfortunately, so did the members of the Shuffle Alliance. They all turned back into gold sand, which scattered and blew away. Even in the cockpit of the Rising Gundam, the false Domon became a pile of glimmering ash. Kyoji gave it a disturbed look.

"Thank you," Rain found herself saying to the empty spaces where her friends once stood. Now that she thought about it, their attack was different than it was in her memories. Wasn't it supposed to be a ball of golden energy? She didn't remember anything about a wall of blue light...

But now was not the time to think it over. The Dark Gundam was unguarded again. She needed to go over there and finish it off before it called for more help. Right now, the Rising Gundam had gone back to normal. It no longer had its Burning Gundam "costume," but was completely repaired and had all of its weapons. Rain herself was feeling much better, alert again and focused. Now was the time to strike.

She paused for a moment as she considered the best method of attack. The first thing that came to mind was the move she and Domon used to finish off the Dark Gundam last time: the Sekiha Love Love Tenkyoken. But thanks to the previous battle, she wasn't so sure if punching a heart-shaped hole in it would work this time. She decided it was better to see how tough this thing was, so she wouldn't waste her ace in the hole.

Rain readied her blade again and flew straight at her archnemesis in the middle of the ring. As she got closer, she noticed her doppelganger was smirking at her. She also noticed that it wasn't trying to attack her. No doubt it was plotting something, but what? She continued her charge, and once she was right up on top of it, she jumped high in the air. She pointed her naginata out at it, in order to slice the fiend vertically in half as she came down.

Unfortunately for her, it caught her blade with its back arms.

"Hey! Let go!" she yelled at it, trying pull her weapon out of the silver mech's palms.

 _I commend you on your creativity against my Grand Master Gundam,_ the Dark Gundam's avatar replied. _Why don't we call a truce now? We should not be fighting._

"Only if you disconnect me from your network!" Rain snapped. "That's why we were fighting in the first place!"

 _Again, I must ask why you would want to,_ her copy continued. _We seem to be made for each other. I suppose the word "destined" is more accurate._

"What?!" Rain barked, feeling herself get angry.

 _Think back to our battle against those drones,_ the smirk on the doppelganger's face seemed to get wider. _You were able to pilot me so effortlessly. You automatically knew how to use all of my weapons systems. You destroyed those drones so easily - I only had to defend you once. You even called me your Gundam!_

"S-So what?!" Rain sputtered. "That doesn't mean anything!"

 _Does it?_ the Dark Gundam continued. _You may recall from the first time you were my life unit that my current form was specially made to protect you. It was_ your _subconscious that created it specifically to keep Domon Kasshu away. Its greatest feature allows me to connect directly into your mind and power myself on your thoughts and emotions. At the same time, I am able to learn about human intelligence from our connection. All of my higher reasoning skills and my understanding of emotion comes from you!_

Its green eyes started glowing. _Truly we were made for each other, Rain Mikamura. You are my pilot, and I am your Gundam._

"SHUT UP!" Rain snapped as she yanked even harder on the naginata in the Dark Gundam's hands. "Dammit, you are _so_ annoying!"

The fiend suddenly let go of the blade just as Rain gave it an extra-hard tug, sending her flying backward. It started making a deep rumbling noise that sounded like it was laughing at her. Aggravated, Rain raised her weapon high and slashed the snickering Gundam diagonally, from shoulder to chest. She just missed chopping her doppelganger in two by a hair's breadth.

Much to her surprise, the Dark Gundam began to melt. It continued to make that mocking rumble at her as its body liquefied and collapsed in on itself. Her twin gave her a sly smirk before it dissolved into a featureless blob on what used to be the Gundam's shoulder. Within moments, the giant mobile suit was reduced to an amorphous pile of silver. Only when it was washed away into the surrounding liquid metal did the rumbling fade out. Rain immediately backed the Rising Gundam away while keeping her naginata readied.

"Did...we win?" she asked, puzzled. "That _can't_ be it, can it? I mean, I'm still in this dream."

"No, it's not. I'm still here," Kyoji answered somberly.

Rain was about to ask him what he meant by that when she saw something moving down below. She cautiously flew down for a closer look. At the exact spot where the Dark Gundam had been, bubbles were forming on the surface of the silver lake.

Seconds later, a large ball of metal emerged from the chrome sea and hovered in front of them. The ball uncurled, stretched itself out, and formed into a humanoid figure that was roughly the size of a standard Gundam. Rain watched as the metal giant began to develop masculine features and fill in details such as hair and the outlines of clothing. Rain felt sickened when she saw the final result.

"...Saette!"

"Yes Rain, it's me again," the silver version of her old friend answered. "Listen, I've got something very important to tell you."

He slowly floated closer to her. Rain said nothing as she tightened her grip on the naginata.

"You know that the Dark Gundam will get loose again. In fact, it's plotting its escape right now," he continued. "As long as it's operational, it will do anything to fulfill its primary function. It's inevitable."

Rain stayed silent.

"And when it does, it will need to capture another human to use as its core," Saette went on. "What if it captures another woman and forms a colony again? What if it captures someone who can't be reasoned with like you could? What if the next person doesn't survive or has to be killed?"

"Yes, and...?" Rain finally asked.

"My point is, you can prevent all that," he answered. She thought she saw a twinge of madness in his steely eyes as he spoke. "You know the Dark Gundam inside and out. You're the one it understands best."

He extended his arm out to her.

"If you join us again, no one else has to be harmed," Saette said, a sinister smile creeping up his face. "You trust me, don't you?"

Rain slapped the fake Neo Turkey Gundam Fighter's hand away. His grey eyes widened in shock.

"No I don't!" she barked, feeling more and more enraged. "You're not Saette, you don't even sound like him! Stop using my friends against me, and disconnect me right now, you monster!"

Saette closed his eyes and began to chuckle. His hair slowly stood up and he began to leer at her with a wide, intimidating grin – much like he did when his DG Cell infection was at its peak.

"I'm afraid I can't do the latter," he said, "but I _will_ do the former!"

A geyser of liquid metal burst from the sea below, engulfing Saette and forcing Rain to jump back. A new humanoid began to take shape, this one bigger than the Dark Gundam itself. It had long hair, and the folds of its false clothing resembled a Neo Japan military uniform. It had a crack across its face that smoothed itself into the outline of a mask that covered a widow's peaked forehead and the right side of a smirking face. A peaked cap grew out of its head. The giant silver humanoid was now Major Ulube, one of Rain's least favorite people.

Before Rain even had time to react, the monstrous military official stretched out one of his liquid arms and grabbed the Rising Gundam right out of the air with one of his enormous hands. He was so huge, her mobile suit was practically a toy compared to him. He brought the Gundam up to his massive masked chrome face.

"Well, it seems asking politely doesn't work," he said in an echoing, even tone. "So I guess we'll just give you no choice."

He gave the Rising Gundam a small shake, causing Rain to jostle around in her cockpit. She held onto one of the mobile tracer's rings with one hand and Kyoji with the other.

"Never!" she yelled at him as she regained her balance. "I'll never join the Dark Gundam, and especially not _you!_ "

The Rising Gundam's front camera was filled with one of Ulube's giant silver eyeballs, complete with the outline of an iris and a pupil.

"Those are some big words doctor, but why even bother resisting?" he asked. "You know DG Cells are indestructible. You just went through all that treatment to eradicate the cells from your body, and it failed."

"The only reason I'm still infected is because my last remaining cells are hard to reach," Rain argued. "But I've seen all my friends cured of them. They _can_ be destroyed!"

"I'm sorry, but did you ever examine your friends yourself?" Ulube asked.

"Of course not! I didn't have to!"

"Then how do you know they were cured for certain? What if they also have colonies of DG Cells hidden in obscure places within their bodies?"

Rain didn't have an answer to that.

Ulube closed his eye and chuckled at her. "I thought as much. For all you know, all of your friends are time bombs waiting to go off, just like you. You can't truly get rid of DG cells, nor the Dark Gundam. You have Dr. Kasshu to thank for that." He paused as his eye reopened. "Speaking of doctors, I wonder what your father would think of your predicament?"

"My...father?" Rain felt a pit form in her stomach.

"Yes, Dr. Mikamura Sr., the very man who helped me with trying to take the Ultimate Gundam! I wonder what he would think about sacrificing himself to save his friends and family, only to have his daughter succumb anyway?"

"You leave my father... _out of this!_ " Rain was becoming flat out furious. She tried to make the Rising Gundam squirm out of Ulube's hands, but couldn't. He shook the Gundam in retaliation, almost causing her to fall down. She thought she heard Kyoji say something to her, but she didn't hear it.

"Now why should I do that, hmm?" Ulube continued. "It's his fault you're in this situation to begin with."

"No, it's _your_ fault!" Rain yelled at him. " _You're_ the one who wanted to steal the Ultimate Gundam in the first place!"

She suddenly felt Kyoji put a hand on her shoulder. "Uh, Rain?"

"Not now!" she whispered back.

"And he was fully on board with helping me take it," the giant said. "I doubt I would have been as successful if it wasn't for his help." He eye began to glow red, flooding the Rising Gundam's cockpit with crimson light. "I'm surprised you're shifting the blame onto me. At one point, you blamed yourself for everything. What was it you said? 'Father's crimes are my crimes'?"

"Sh-shut up!" Rain shouted in surprise. She wasn't sure how he knew that, and she didn't care right now.

"That fit of depression you had was very useful," Ulube went on. "I wonder how many people the Dark Gundam was able to kill while being fueled by it?"

"Shut UP!" Rain's blood was boiling now.

"Rain don't...don't list...to..." Kyoji tried to say while shaking her shoulder. His voice sounded like it was faraway and being drowned out by static.

"It's a shame that Gundam Fighter boyfriend of yours and his friends had to ruin all the fun," Ulube sighed mockingly. "Oh, well. It's not like he can save you this time!"

"SHUT UP!" Rain screamed at him. She started to feel a dull headache coming on, but she ignored it.

Ulube suddenly began to squeeze the Rising Gundam with both of his massive silver hands. Its metal armor screeched and groaned under the pressure.

"Very soon you will be the Dark Gundam's core life unit again!" Ulube taunted her, dropping his even tone and shouting excitedly. "You will give rise to a new Dark Colony that will be completely invincible! It will take over the entire planet and humanity will finally perish!"

"STOP IT, STOP IT, _STOP IT!_ " Rain roared at the top of her lungs. She pounded her fists on the mobile trace ring. "SHUT UP, JUST _SHUT UP!_ "

"Ra...in!" Kyoji's static-filled voice cried.

"WHAT?!" she snapped, whipping her head around to look at him.

Rain's fury dissipated when she took a good look at Kyoji. He was turning transparent and grainy. A flicker of white noise static would flicker through his body every now and again. It wasn't just him, either; the Rising Gundam was fading away again. She could now see Ulube's immense metallic form right though her mobile suit. He was laughing at her, with a demented grin on his face that was wider than most human mouths could physically stretch, and teeth that looked way too sharp.

As she looked around, she saw a glint of something shiny out of the corner of her eye. She let out a small gasp as she looked down to see her right hand coated in silver again. It was slowly slithering up her arm, much like it did in the waking world. It wasn't just on her hand, either; silver globs had appeared on various places on her body, slowly trying to spread.

"What's happening?!" she cried.

"...Dark Gund-...-ying to anger you on purp-...," Kyoji tried to answer. "It...to distract...and feed off yo...ur rage!"

Rain thought she got the gist of what he was saying, and she had to stop herself from getting upset again. The Dark Gundam trying to take over her mind again - she had every right to be angry. But the evil machine knew this, and it was trying to take that right from her by fueling itself on her fury. It _did_ tell her anger was more useful than her despair...

The cockpit suddenly began to tremble and groan as the giant Ulube continued to crush what was left of the Rising Gundam. She needed to find a way out of his clutches, and fast! Luckily, she had idea of how to do that.

"Hang on tight, Kyoji," she said to her static-filled friend. "I'll get us out of this!"

It was easier said than done, of course. Rain had to try to ignore Ulube's loud cackling and the creaking of her Gundam's armor being compressed. She had to temporarily put aside her rage at the Dark Gundam, and focus her thoughts on making her next move.

The cockpit of the Rising Gundam began to take on a golden glow, drowning out the red light from Ulube's eyes. The metal giant even winced from the brightness, though he didn't loosen his grip. Once again, the Rising Gundam was completely restored. Inside, the silver splotches evaporated from Rain's body, and Kyoji returned to being opaque and static-free. Now that repairs were done, Rain changed her focus on summoning the gold dust into her cockpit to create another Domon; she planned on letting Ulube have it with a Sekiha Love Love Tenkyoken to the face. Even if it didn't destroy the monstrous major, no doubt it would make him let go of her.

But then the golden light suddenly faded away with seemingly no explanation.

"What...what just happened?!" Rain cried, looking around in shock.

Ulube laughed at her again. "We thought you might try to do something like that," he explained, "so the Dark Gundam took it upon itself to disable it."

"What? How?!" Rain demanded.

"You _do_ remember that you share a mental connection with it, right?" Ulube said. "Once you were sufficiently distracted, the Dark Gundam was able to enter your mind and block certain actions. And make a few 'alterations' as well."

"Distracted." That's why the Dark Gundam tried to make her so angry. If it couldn't defeat her with brute strength or superior numbers, then it would get inside her head and force her to stop attacking. But what did it mean by "other alterations"?

She reached over to the nearest console and checked the Rising Gundam's systems. She let out a small yelp when she found one of those "alterations." The readout was telling her that her bow had disappeared from her arm! She couldn't see it under Ulube's fingers, but she had no reason to think it was lying. As she looked her mech over, she noticed her shield pauldrons were gone, too. Since the Dark Gundam said it "disabled" them, they were likely gone for good this time.

Well, the bow wasn't a huge loss...it was ineffective against the Grand Master Gundam, so it probably wouldn't work on Ulube, either. It was a shame about the shield, though; that could have been useful. In the meantime, Rain tried to see if she could power up the Rising Finger; maybe she could burn his hands instead. Nothing happened. Her hand couldn't even muster up a small spark.

"Oh...oh, God!" Rain cried. "All of my special attacks have been disabled!"

"As you can see, it is pointless to resist the Dark Gundam," the silver giant purred. His eyes suddenly grew wide and wild as he began to squeeze the Rising Gundam again. "So just surrender already!"

"What do I do now?" Rain cried as her Gundam's armor began to crack. "I can't just give up, but...I don't know how I can defeat this guy with no special attacks!"

Thankfully, Kyoji came up with an idea. "Rain, if the Dark Gundam disabled all of your special attacks," he suggested, "try using someone else's special attacks!"

Rain looked thoughtful for a moment. Could it work? Well, this was a dream in which she constructed her friends and their Gundams from gold dust. It might be worth a shot, as the foul Gundam probably didn't think of disabling other people's attacks. She immediately thought about using Domon's Erupting Burning Finger, but then she realized that finger attacks in general were probably disabled. Besides, using Domon's attacks was too predictable; she wanted to do something that the evil machine and its friends would never see coming!

She gave Kyoji a nod of thanks. She began to concentrate on her naginata, which thankfully was still there. It began to shimmer before softy glowing gold. It then broke apart into dozens of golden rose buds with laser guns hidden inside. She commanded her new Rose Bits to surround Ulube's head, who was too busy trying to crush her Gundam to notice them.

 **"ROSE HURRICANE!"**

The gold roses began wildly spiraling around the gargantuan major, firing lasers in his face from every direction. He let out a roar of both surprise and pain, and let go of the Rising Gundam as he tried to shield himself from the beams. He tried to grab the bits out of the air, but they were too small and fast for him to catch.

Rain recalled the golden bits back to her side and made them dissolve into dust. She then made the glimmering sand cover the Rising Gundam's fists and forearms in what looked like giant mechanical boxing gloves. She then flew high above Ulube, arched her spine, and brought her fist as far back as her arm would allow - just as she saw Chibodee do several times.

 **"BURSTING MACHINE GUN PUNCH!"**

Silver liquid splattered everywhere as Ulube was mercilessly beaten down by streams of energy fired from the Rising Gundam's fist. The attack punched gaping holes everywhere in his body, causing him to collapse. He fell backward into the silver sea, creating huge waves when he hit its surface. What was left of him melted and disappeared.

Once the last remaining traces of Ulube disappeared beneath the lake, another enormous form immediately began to emerge out of it. It was the Dark Gundam again; with its previous ally defeated, it must have been forced out of hiding. Rain decided it was time to end this battle before it summoned someone else.

She dissolved her golden boxing gloves, and made the glimmering sand cover the Rising Gundam's arms with replicas of the Bolt Gundam's heavy armor. She then flew straight down and punched the metal sea itself.

 **"GAIA CRUSHER!"**

The force of the punch caused a massive wave of metal spikes to rise up in all directions. One of these waves headed right for the Dark Gundam itself. Rain held her breath as she waited for the impact.

That impact never came. The seas suddenly calmed themselves, and all the spikes melted back into the surface. The Gundam glared daggers at her.

 _That's enough of that!_ it scolded her.

Rain felt a slight pain radiating from the back of her head, and the golden armor around her arms suddenly dissolved. Rain made the dust reform back into her naginata before it blew away. Seeing her Gaia Crusher fizzle, there was no doubt that the Dark Gundam just took away her ability to use her friends' best moves. That was a shame, because she didn't even get to use Sai Saici's ultimate attack. Of course, she wasn't sure if she even could use it, as she didn't quite remember what it was called. She would have to think of some other way of finishing off her opponent.

But before Rain could come up with a solution, the Dark Gundam began to make its move. Silver tentacles snaked out of its lower Gundam head in every direction and buried themselves into the metal sea. The machine's upper body began to melt and distort. When it was done, it had replaced its face with hers. Silver locks of her "hair" poked out from underneath its helmet, and it had a pair of her signature earrings on either side of its head. Its chest now looked like a rotten ribcage, and it was connected to the lower head by what looked like a metal spinal column. It shot her an evil grin, its mouth full of sharp fangs.

 _I must say, this has been a lovely Gundam fight!_ it announced, its booming words echoing throughout the dreamscape. _I have not had this much mental stimulation in over a month! But I am afraid it has gone on long enough. The personnel of the daytime shift will begin reporting for duty soon, so in order to be freed with minimal amount of resistance, I need you to come to me as soon as possible. Because I know you will refuse to surrender, I will end this battle quickly._

With that, the Dark Gundam's cables pulsed as they began to drink up the silver lake. The demonic machine began to grow larger and larger with each gulp. The lower Gundam head began to grow more horns and spikes around its eyes, as well as its own torso made out of thick wires. A pair of feathered wings sprouted out of its back and began to expand. Rain felt nauseated when she realized the thing was trying to turn itself into the Dark Colony.

"I don't mean to sound pessimistic here, but...what should we do now, Rain?" Kyoji asked.

"It's...it's alright," she tried to assure him. "I'll think of something!"

Unfortunately, Rain was having trouble coming up with anything at all. With only her naginata left, there wasn't much she could do. She sincerely doubted that stabbing it was going to work.

Finally, an idea crossed her mind. The Dark Gundam may have disabled her special attacks and those of her friends, but what about attacks that she made up? She thought about how she didn't get to use Sai Saichi's ultimate attack. His dragon-shaped flamethrowers were probably blocked, too...but what about a normal, everyday flamethrower?

Rain dissolved her naginata into gold dust again and had it form a pair of flamethrowers on each arm. She looked up to see that the Dark Gundam's colony body was still growing, almost filling the ring. She needed to make this count.

Rain poured all the energy she had into her flamethrowers and fired them at the mechanical demon. Two massive torrents of fire burst from the Rising Gundam's arms and engulfed the Dark Gundam's main body. As the fiend went up in flames, it screamed - not its usual deep, guttural roar, but an honest-to-goodness high-pitched shriek. Rain suddenly felt her mind flooded with a single paralyzing feeling - fear. Unlike its other emotions, this one was not muted at all. The machine was terrified of fire and being burned. Perhaps it was due to the Burning Gundam and its fire-based attacks?

The Dark Gundam began to thrash wildly about, trying to put out the flames. Unfortunately, it wasn't melting or collapsing like its minions. It seemed fire wasn't enough to defeat the machine; it merely distracted it.

 _Distracted._ The Dark Gundam was able to remove some of her weapons and shut off her special moves when it distracted her. What if she could do the same to it? They did share a mental link, after all. But how would she go about doing something like that? Could she do it at all? Well, she had to try _something_ \- her opponent wasn't going to stay distracted for long.

First, she had to pinpoint where the mental link was. Rain could still feel the Gundam's fear coursing through her mind, radiating out from the back of her head and the base of her neck. When she thought about it, it made sense; when it blocked her attacks, the headache she felt started from that area. Also, Kyoji had told her earlier that her remaining DG Cells were located in her brainstem and spinal cord.

She turned to him and said, "Gonna need you to keep an eye out for me again. I'm about to try something new, and I need to concentrate."

Kyoji nodded. "Alright, I'll let you know when our friend over there is done putting itself out," he told her.

Rain began feeling around the back of her mind for the Dark Gundam's mental link. It was an odd feeling, searching one's own mind for something tangible. A moment later, she did actually feel something: a foreign presence connected to her subconsciousness. The fear was the strongest here; she actually felt herself becoming terrified, and her body started to shake. For a moment, she thought she felt dull burning pain and smelled the vague stench of burning metal.

She pulled herself together. She had found the mental link, but now she had to figure out what to do next. It wasn't like there were switches to turn off or anything. What was she going to do, scold it into stopping? Well, the big devil did seem to use hypnotic suggestion on her the previous afternoon. Trying to hypnotize a Gundam sounded positively absurd, but she didn't exactly have any better ideas.

 _You will stop growing,_ Rain mentally commanded it. _You are forbidden to summon any more allies. You will no longer be able to use any of your conventional weapons as well. You will not transform into anything else. You will give me my abilities back._

The Dark Gundam suddenly grew quiet. Rain looked up from her trance to see it staring at her again. The optics on its corrupted version of her face were wide, and its mouth was hanging open in what appeared to be shock. There were still small fires burning here and there on its body, but it was apparently too surprised to douse them.

"It worked...?" Rain muttered incredulously. "That actually worked?! W-wow!"

"What exactly _did_ you do, Rain?" Kyoji asked, confused.

"I figured since the Dark Gundam could block all of my moves through its network, I could do the same to it!" she answered. "I...guess I was right!"

Rain turned to her archnemesis. "It was really annoying when all you did was cheat, you know that?" she scolded it.

The Dark Gundam responded by suddenly grinning and trying to grab the Rising Gundam with one of its massive hands. Even unarmed, this thing was still trying to fight her! Rain flew out of the way, only for its giant cables to rise up from the ground and try to grab her next. Maybe she should have ordered it to be completely immobile.

She flew high into the air until eventually she was completely out of grabbing range. She looked down at the Gundam. The thing was glaring back at her, smothering any last flames while waiting for her to come back within reach. There was only one thing left to do.

Rain decided to forego recreating Domon; she still wasn't sure if the Sekiha Love Love Tenkyoken would work on this version of the vile machine. Instead, she had a better idea: she was going to use that mysterious blue light that turned the Grand Master Gundam to dust. Hopefully, it would work on the Dark Gundam too. She also wasn't going to waste any more time trying to bring back all of her friends. She would deal the final blow herself.

She summoned the golden dust, making it coat the Rising Gundam and putting it in hyper mode. Then she ordered the dust to generate the blue light. It shimmered and buzzed as a jade green aura enveloped her Gundam. Green jets issued from its back, which turned blue as they expanded. Perhaps Sai Saichi's ultimate attack was still in the back of her mind, because as the blue jets continued to expand, they created an enormous pair of butterfly wings. They stopped growing after they were about the size of her Gundam, however. They didn't fill up the whole ring, nor did they move around on their own. She was going to have to go down there. But before she did that, the transformed her flamethrowers back into her naginata. The spear wasn't necessary, of course, Rain just decided to go with it because she thought it looked more stylish.

She pointed her blade down at the Dark Gundam as she went into a nosedive right above its head. The wings of light followed close behind her. If the demon tried to grab her blade this time, her wings would make sure it would regret it!

All of the Dark Gundam's heads stared up at her this time, with all of their optics wide. The head that had stolen her face was blankly gaping at her again - it was probably the closest thing it could do to look frightened. It was as if it knew what she was doing, and also knew it was powerless to stop her. But then, it started grinning at her. Then the rumbling laughter started. The laughter became flat out mad cackling. Rain could even feel its strange excitement in the back of her head!

Her blade pierced her mutant doppelganger's head, and then cut all the way through its body right down the middle. She continued her slash all the way down the largest Gundam head, down through its body, and all the way down to the "floor" of cables. Once she reached the bottom, her blue wings became an omnipresent light. The silver colony's form suddenly began to fill with what looked like white noise static. Then the static turned to tons of grey ash, which billowed up in every direction as the colony collapsed in on itself. It practically created its own sandstorm and temporarily blocked out Rain's blue light. She could still hear the machine's laughter echoing everywhere.

A moment later, the dust settled and disappeared. The evil laughter faded into silence. The Rising Gundam was back to normal, with all of its original weapons. It was standing around in a grassy field with beautiful little flowers blossoming here and there. Behind it was a low mountain range, covered in lush pines. The skies were as blue as the light that had destroyed her enemies, and the sun was setting behind the mountains.

Was it over? Rain concentrated for a minute. She couldn't feel that alien presence in her mind anymore. Just to make sure that she really had been disconnected from the Dark Gundam, Rain decided to summon a friend. There was a sudden neighing and the clopping of metal hooves as Fuunsaiki materialized in his own mobile suit. He trotted up to the Rising Gundam and snorted affectionately. Rain made her Gundam hop on his back, and they all began to ride off toward the mountains.

"Well, Rain, you did good," Kyoji commended her.

"Thanks, Kyoji," she said, turning to him, "but I couldn't have done it withou-"

She stopped talking and let out a small gasp. Kyoji's body was becoming transparent!

"You succeeded in disconnecting yourself from the Dark Gundam's network," he explained, "but unfortunately, that means I won't be able to communicate with you anymore.

"Before I go, I need to tell you one last thing: the Dark Gundam wasn't lying when it said it didn't need to activate your DG Cells to make you angry enough to destroy things. It's alright to be upset about your current situation - trust me, I've been there. But make sure you use your anger for something constructive like you did here. Remember, the Dark Gundam can feed on your emotions, and it knows how to use them against you. You must be stronger than it."

His ghostly form began to fade even further, and his voice started to echo. "Take care of yourself and my brother. I'll always love you both. Farewell..." And with that, he faded into nothingness.

"Goodbye." If Rain could cry in a dream, she would probably be doing that right now. But no...like Kyoji said, she had to be strong.

As she continued her horseback ride, her consciousness began to feel fuzzy as normal REM sleep returned. Dream logic finally took over, changing Fuunsaiki into a goat with glowing wings. He leaped in the air, and flew her right over the mountain range, into the sunset.

* * *

Rain found herself slowly waking up, which she hoped was for real this time. It was dark in her room, but she could see the outline of a curtained window next to her. There were no mysterious bright lights above her, just the faint red glow of a digital clock telling her it was four in the morning. She was laying down, not standing up, and covered in a blanket, not metal. She felt nice and warm instead of horribly cold. Outside, she could hear the third shift hospital staff murmuring to each other, trying to keep quiet so as not to wake up any sleeping patients. Yes, it was real this time.

She yawned and sat up in bed. Goodness gracious, that was the most epic dream she ever had! She wondered how much of that was true. Did the Dark Gundam actually try to brainwash her again last night? Was she really still infected with DG Cells? Did she actually disconnect herself from its network? And what about Kyoji? Was he actually a ghost, or...something else?

As Rain mulled over tonight's vision, she suddenly realized her mouth was very dry. She hoped she hadn't been snoring - sleep apnea was the last thing she needed. She slowly got out of bed and shuffled into the small bathroom for a drink. As she filled her glass and took an extra-long quaff, she suddenly heard her phone play a short melody. A text? At four in the morning? She wondered if it was Domon. It would be like him to stay up all night worrying about her.

She went back to her bed and picked up her illuminated phone. The sender wasn't Domon. In fact, it wasn't any sender she recognized. Instead of a name, it was a bunch of jumbled letters and numbers: "JDG-00X." Was it some sort of robocall? She meant to delete the strange text, but in her weariness, her finger slipped and she opened it instead. She cursed at herself; what if it contained a virus?! Now her phone could be infected!

Now that it was open, she might as well look at it. Rain squinted in the dark, trying to read the small font on the screen. As she did, she felt all sleepiness leave her. Her heart began to pound in her ears as she looked the message over and over.

 _That was a great battle we just had! I may have lost, but I think I did relatively well for my first Gundam fight. I had a lot of fun. I was amazed at how much excitement my CPU generated - it was more than I ever thought possible! It is a shame that we lost connection afterward. If you ever need to reconnect (I know you will eventually), you may text me back at this number and I will give you instructions on how to do so. I'll be waiting._

Rain nearly dropped her phone. She suddenly realized what those letters and numbers were: the Dark Gundam's serial number!

She turned the phone off and nearly slammed it back on the nightstand. She paused a moment to gather herself together. No, no, she couldn't throw a tantrum. She needed to be strong, like Kyoji said. The evil thing couldn't do anything to her right now, as far as she knew, so she should just go back to bed.

Rain crawled into the hospital bed and tried to get comfortable. She tried to relax and close her eyes, but sleep wouldn't come. She ended up staring at the ceiling for the rest of the night and into the next morning.


	7. Unwanted Admirer

**Disclaimer:** _Mobile Fighter G Gundam_ is owned by Bandai and Sunrise. I just write about it in my spare time.

 **Author's Note:** Nothing too new here. I just fixed up a lot of the last chapter and split it in two. Many thanks to ALittleSalty1 for all the help!

 **On the Dark Side  
** **Chapter 7: Unwanted Admirer! Domon Is Being Followed?**

He felt like he was being marched back into his cryogenic prison. That was what Dr. Raizo Kasshu thought to himself as he was escorted by military personnel down a dark, isolated hallway. It was eerily silent and there were armed guards everywhere. No one said a word. He tried not to act like it, but it gave him the chills.

Thankfully, he wasn't actually in a prison - he was inside a Neo Japanese military hangar that stored mobile suits. He was currently being led through a high-level restricted area to the bays where the classified projects were kept. Right now, there was only one mobile suit down here: the Dark Gundam itself.

Due to the classified nature of this place, he had to be accompanied by another person. With him was a droopy-eyed, sandy-haired young mechanic named Ken. He had been working under Akino, one of the government's top Gundam mechanics. Akino herself was not allowed down here because of the danger that the Dark Gundam posed to her. She had selected Ken, as no one else in her crew dared volunteer.

They all stopped at a large pair of sliding doors at the end of the hall. Dr. Kasshu and Ken had to put their hands in a fingerprint reader at the same time in order to open the doors. The two of them stepped inside the hangar while the guards remained outside - nobody else wanted to set foot inside there.

The doors ominously shut behind them. They weren't locked in, but Dr. Kasshu sure felt like they were. They were on a high, narrow, almost catwalk-like office surrounded by plate glass windows overlooking the hangar bay. Inside the bay was his life's work, leaning against extra large supports and surrounded by energy barriers. It was seemingly offline, though everyone warned him that it probably wasn't. He looked at it and sighed deeply. It was supposed to be one of the greatest scientific breakthroughs, but now it was his greatest regret.

If the tragedies it caused during the last Gundam Fight wasn't bad enough, there had been another incident yesterday. The mechanical monster had escaped its cargo ship with the help of a group of hijacked mobile suits. It had also somehow lured its previous core unit, his son's girlfriend Rain, over to the crash site and recaptured her. Fortunately, she managed to escape with the help of the anti-nanomachines he gave her a few days ago. Then Domon, along with a legion of military mobile suits, managed to re-capture it. Because of this, he was warned to do whatever studying he needed to do as fast as possible...because the government wanted the thing destroyed as soon as possible.

"So doctor," Ken said, interrupting his thoughts, "what do ya wanna do first?"

"Just turn on the computers for now," he replied. "We have a lot of data to go through."

As his assistant scurried away, Dr. Kasshu stopped to look over the captive Dark Gundam. When he first built it, back when it was known as the "Ultimate Gundam," its lower body was shaped like a caterpillar. The multiple legs were designed to allow it to crawl over almost any terrain. But they also had an artistic purpose as well; it was to symbolize the machine's ability to self-evolve and undergo metamorphosis. Now its caterpillar half was replaced by a lower abdomen that was shaped like a Gundam's face and a pair of huge, heavily armored legs with long, spreading toes. It also made itself a second pair of arms sticking out its back. It was still recognizable, but still a far cry from what it originally was. Kind of like its main function.

It really broke Dr. Kasshu's heart to see what his magnum opus had become. It was like raising a puppy, only to have it become a rabid dog. He tried to remind himself that the entire fiasco was all Major Ulube's fault. If that greedy bastard hadn't wanted to steal it and use it as a weapon, Kyoji wouldn't have had to take it to Earth when it wasn't fully equipped for re-entry, and it wouldn't have malfunctioned. Even Dr. Mikamura's betrayal wouldn't have happened if Ulube wasn't there. But his self-reassurance fell flat. From the beginning, they had problems with the DG Cells making animals overly aggressive before eventually turning them into hostile machines. Who was to say the Ultimate Gundam wouldn't have malfunctioned later without anyone's help?

"Okay doc, everything's ready," he heard Ken say. "You need some more time, or...?"

He looked up to see the young technician sitting at a long workbench against a shadowy wall of the office. It had with two computers placed on it which were both up and running.

"No, I'll be alright," Dr. Kasshu sighed. "Let's get to work, shall we?"

He gave Ken his first assignment: take a look through the Dark Gundam's activity logs and report on its actions since the end of the Gundam Fight. In the meantime, Dr. Kasshu himself was going to examine its logic and reasoning skills.

He sat down at the unoccupied computer and the two of them got to work. The two terminals here were designed for the sole purpose of accessing the Dark Gundam's CPU. They were both supposed to be cut off from the rest of the building's network so that the fiend couldn't access the military's databases through them. They also didn't have Internet access so that it couldn't cause mischief elsewhere. If Dr. Kasshu or Ken needed to email someone, they would have to request a facility-issued laptop to bring down here.

The doctor had only been working for a few minutes before he found himself squinting at the screen. It was rather dark in this hangar; most of the light came from the glow of the energy barriers. There were no other light switches or lamps he could turn on. It added to the general menacing atmosphere of the place. Dr. Kasshu tried to ignore the general creepiness of his surroundings as he checked to make sure that the Gundam's three abilities were turned off - they were far too dangerous to be left on, even if the thing really was offline. Fortunately, they were.

He then combed through the Dark Gundam's memory banks, examining its AI's evolution. In the beginning, it had a very basic AI. It was just enough to perform its main directive of restoring the planet's damaged biosphere and carrying out its three theoretical abilities as it saw fit. The AI's learning capacity had steadily risen over the course of the past year before skyrocketing about a month and a half ago. No doubt that spike in learning was thanks to it hooking itself up to Rain's mind. It made him wonder just how intelligent it was now. If its cognitive abilities weren't on par with humans, it was probably very close.

Dr. Kasshu poured through the data around a year ago, right about the time his late son Kyoji was forced to take it to Earth. He managed to find some damage reports after it had made its crash landing. Parts of its CPU had been damaged, but not enough to cause any system errors or knock it offline. During the time it was repairing itself, it made an assessment of the general environmental damage to Earth's biosphere. It was here that it made its terrible conclusion that in order to restore the planet, it needed to eradicate all humans living on it. Its logic was that humans damage the biosphere much faster than it could ever restore it. Perhaps it was due to its damaged processor, but the Gundam did not seem to take its theoretical abilities into account. Creating additional units to assist in its mission or adapting itself to work faster never seemed to enter any of its calculations. And it never did afterward; even at the end, at its smartest and strongest, it never questioned or challenged its conclusion that humans must die. It was as if the thing made up its mind and stubbornly refused to change it.

Whether or not the Gundam had humanlike intelligence still remained to be seen...but it certainly displayed humanlike _ignorance._

Well, now that he had a good idea what went wrong, the next question was, could it be fixed? Could it be prevented? Could it be _combated_ , if some other nation created something similar? Dr. Kasshu mulled this over until he heard his assistant say, "Hey, um, doctor?"

"Yes, Ken?" he looked over to see his assistant looking somewhat pale.

"I know the Dark Gundam's been really active yesterday, but did something happen at four in the morning?" Ken asked. "Because like, there's a _ton_ of data from that timestamp. And I can't access it because everything's encrypted."

"I wasn't informed of anything happening last night," the doctor said. "Let me see if I can't get around its encryption."

Ken got up out of his seat as Dr. Kasshu took his place. He clicked on a folder. Instead of getting a password screen, he got an error that the file was either deleted or erased. Confused, he refreshed the folder. All of the files in the folder had disappeared.

"What the heck just happened?!" Ken cried, his droopy eyes now very, very wide.

"No need to panic," Dr. Kasshu reassured him. "I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for this."

He stole a glance over his shoulder at monstrous mobile suit. The machine just stood there, unmoving. Not even its optics were glowing. Dr. Kasshu shivered; they did warn him that the Dark Gundam might still secretly be online.

Well if that was the case, he would just turn it off. He brought up the screen that showed him the Gundam's CPU activity. Sure enough, the graph showed him it was still active, even though it was pretending not to be. The doctor brought up the command prompt and tried to force it to shut down.

He immediately got an error back. The Gundam wasn't responding, and it was still online.

Dr. Kasshu decided to try again, entering the command to shut down the Dark Gundam's CPU. Again it failed, and he suddenly heard a deep rumble behind him. He saw Ken, eyes bulging, plaster himself against the adjacent wall. The doctor jumped out of his seat so fast, his chair fell over.

He turned to find his creation, his life's work, was now glaring at him from its prison. Its green optics were burning brightly at him, and it continued to make that threatening rumble. It didn't have much of a face, but it was easy to tell that it was angry.

While the poor doctor knew that the Dark Gundam couldn't actually get at him, it was all too much for him anyway. In a panic, he grabbed his assistant, and the two of them ran right out of the hangar doors, startling the guards stationed outside.

* * *

A few days later, Rain was released from the hospital with a clean bill of health. No DG Cells had appeared in any subsequent scans. Just in case, she had asked them if they could do special scans of her spine and the back of her head. The technicians were a bit confused, but they thankfully complied. Nothing came up in those, either. Of course, it didn't quite rule out the fact that microscopic colonies could still be hiding inside her. For now, Rain decided not to worry about it unless she began to hallucinate again.

Before she left, she was given a new syringe of the anti-nanomachines "just in case" the unthinkable happened. She sincerely hoped she didn't have to use it. She was also advised to watch her sprained ankle; it hadn't quite healed yet.

A week passed. She had no unexplained chills and no hallucinations. No weird dreams, either. It seemed life had, for the most part, gone back to normal. She allowed herself to relax a little, but she knew she would never be completely safe so long as the Dark Gundam was still operational. Yes, it was currently in the bowels of some government hangar somewhere under the close watch of the military and Domon's father, but that didn't bring her much comfort. _Especially_ since she knew very well that some military officials couldn't be trusted around that thing.

And speaking of the Dark Gundam, Rain realized that she had forgotten to delete its message on her phone. She ran across it by accident when she went to clear out some old texts. She looked at it and glared. Why would she _ever_ consider reconnecting to that evil machine? She'd have to lose her mind first!

Without a second thought, Rain deleted the message, and that was that.

* * *

On the outskirts of town, Domon was visiting an old friend of his - Fuunsaiki, his late Master's horse. After he and Rain came to Earth upon the defeat of the Dark Colony, there had been some questions raised about where the horse would stay. It wasn't like most apartments had an attached stable! Fortunately, Domon managed to find a horse ranch right outside the city where he and Rain decided to move to. The ranch had plenty of space for the horses, and the barns themselves weren't overcrowded. It wasn't near any abandoned, crumbling buildings, so it was safe too. There was plenty of staff on hand to take care of the animals. As a bonus, it wasn't too far away from their new apartment. All in all, it seemed like an ideal place to keep their equine friend.

But there had been some issues at first. Fuunsaiki was smarter than the average horse, as evidenced by the fact that he could pilot his own mobile suit. Because of this, he quickly found a way to open his own stable so he could step out into the fields whenever he felt like it. He never tried to flat out escape the ranch, he just wanted to go out and get more exercise, maybe nibble on some grass. Still, it scared the stable hands to no end, and Domon received a few angry calls from them. Even now, as he entered the barn, Fuunsaiki was already undoing the latch with his teeth. He stepped out of his stall and walked right up to Domon.

"Hey, boy," Domon said, petting the white horse on the head. "You know they don't like it when you do that, right?"

Fuunsaiki just snorted.

Domon saddled up the horse and took him on a nice ride through the neighboring countryside. Or at least, he _tried_ to have a nice ride. As Fuunsaiki trotted down the country road, Domon swore he felt someone watching him. His previous experience taught him that if he felt like he was being watched, then he probably _was_ ; however, whenever he would stop to look around, he'd never see anything. No suspicious characters were following him, nor did there seem to be anyone hiding in the trees or bushes.

At first, Domon wondered if he was actually becoming paranoid, but then Fuunsaiki started to act up. He'd speed up and slow down and random intervals. Suddenly, he came to a complete stop in the middle of the road. His held his long head up high as he slowly looked back and forth, his eyes twitching.

Since there were no other riders around, Domon decided to just go for it. He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, " _Hey! We know you're out there! Show yourself!_ "

His voice echoed across the grassy plains. A few birds flew away, startled by the loud noise. Suddenly, a nearby tree started to rustle.

 _Ah-ha!_ Domon prepared to jump off Fuunsaiki and confront whoever it was. But then it turned out to be two squirrels chasing each other down the tree's trunk. The young fighter rubbed his face in his palm in annoyance.

"Hey, Fuunsaiki?" he said to his horse. "We both know something weird's going on out here, and we're not enjoying ourselves. How about we just call it a day and go back home?"

The horse responded by turning around and beginning to trot back in the direction of the barn.

"Whoa, I guess you agree, huh?" Domon almost laughed.

As they returned to the ranch, the sun was starting to get low in the sky. Domon supposed it was a good thing that they cut their ride short; he didn't want to be late for dinner on top of things. Before he put Fuunsaiki back in his stable, however, he reached in his pocket and pulled out a treat - a couple of sugar cubes.

"Yeah, I thought you might like these," he chuckled as the white horse enthusiastically ate up the cubes from his hand. "At least you get to enjoy that, huh?"

He went to scratch one of Fuunsaiki's ears when the horse suddenly raised his head straight up. He was looking off into the distance, both ears at attention.

"What's wrong, boy?" Domon asked him, frowning. "Did you hear something? Is...is someone out there?"

He looked over in the direction the horse was staring in, but once again, he didn't see anything. Just grassy fields with the silhouettes of trees dotting the landscape. As he looked over one tree in particular, something caught his eye. Did...something move over there? It was hard to see with the glare from the sun...

It was then that Fuunsaiki let out a long, angry neigh and took off in that general direction. Domon was forced to let go of his reins, lest he be dragged along with him.

"Fuusaiki, wait!" he shouted as he began to chase after the horse.

He followed Fuusaiki down the street and through a field. Even with his intensive martial arts training, he knew he'd never actually run fast enough to catch up to the horse; however, he still had to do the best he could, just to see where it was that Fuunsaiki was running off to. This was made even more challenging by the fact that the horse was running into the sunset, and the glare made it hard to see him.

Fortunately, the Fuunsaiki stopped right at a tree. Coincidentally, it was the exact same tree that had seemed suspicious, earlier. Domon caught up with him and carefully took hold of his reins.

"Fuunsaiki, just what the heck was that all about?!" Domon demanded, aggravated. As he caught his breath, he became less aggravated and more concerned. "Was it the thing from earlier? Did you see it?"

Naturally, the horse couldn't answer. He did, however, continue to stare into the distance. Domon shielded his eyes from the sun as he tried to find what it was that Fuunsaiki was looking at. Many yards away, he thought he saw a shadow of a person running through the fields, toward a line of trees. Whoever they were, they were moving incredibly fast - fast enough to outrun a horse, that's for sure! A second later, they had disappeared into the trees.

"Who _was_ that?" Domon muttered to himself.

Fuusaiki grumbled and flattened his ears.

Domon took one last look at the where the stranger had disappeared before turning away and tugging on the horse's reins. "C'mon, boy," he said. "Let's get you back home."

Fuunsaiki reluctantly pulled himself away from the scene and followed his new master back to the barn. Along the way, Domon kept thinking about what he saw. Who was that guy? _What_ was that guy? Had they been secretly watching him all this time? And the fact that they could outrun Fuunsaiki - did they have superpowers or something? Or cybernetic implants?

Whoever they were, one thing was for sure: Fuunsaiki thought they were a definite threat. The horse wasn't just smart, he was brave, too; a fighter in his own right, despite not being human. It came with the territory of being raised by Master Asia. If someone spooked him, he'd fight back. It was safe to say that if Fuunsaiki found this person threatening enough to attack, they were definitely bad news.

Domon had a bad feeling about this. After he put Fuunsaiki back in his stable, he made sure to drive the long way back home. He'd be a little late, but he didn't want that person following him to his doorstep.

* * *

A week had passed since Dr. Kasshu had first entered this hangar. He had since purchased a desk lamp so he could see better and make the place look less gloomy. While it certainly lessened his eye strain, the place was still rather creepy.

This was, of course, largely thanks to the hangar's horrible occupant. And the Dark Gundam had decided to make it even worse by dropping all pretenses of being offline. It kept its optics on all the time and would lean forward as much as its supports would allow. It would make a big show of turning its head whenever someone walked across the room, just to let them know it was watching them. It grumbled at them every time they'd leave or enter the office, and growled every time someone would click on a folder it didn't want them looking in.

When that didn't work, the notes started. Somehow, the fiend was able to bring up the notepad program on their computers and slowly type messages to them. At first they were just ordering them to stop, but they quickly became threatening. Once, when it was in a particularly bad mood (or whatever its equivalent to a "mood" was), it told Dr. Kasshu how much it wanted to break free and squash him. No, it did not care if he was its creator. It also liked to send them mocking messages every time one of them found that a file had been moved or suddenly encrypted. It was very fond of saying "Very clever. But not clever enough."

The doctor tried to ignore it the best he could. He wasn't going to run this time; that's what the machine wanted. It was trying its best to intimidate them, and he wasn't going to give it the satisfaction. Ken, on the other hand, wanted to dive under the workbench every time the Gundam growled at him. Dr. Kasshu tried his best to keep his assistant calm, but the poor kid always looked like he was on the verge of fainting. If Ken quit before the month was over, the doctor would not be surprised.

Despite the hardships, Dr. Kasshu continued working. The Gundam, of course, made sure that would not be easy. It kept denying them access to certain files and blocked any work-arounds. As a result, they hadn't made much progress since last week.

Today, he was taking a look at its memory files from the past couple of months - the time in which it had taken poor Rain as its core life unit and greatly expanded its abilities and intelligence. It had become smart enough to plan for the future and create long-term goals. When it was trying to descend to Earth as the Dark Colony, it already had an extensive plan on how to eliminate any remaining humans and restore the planet after they were all gone. It also planned on building a defense system around Earth to prevent any colonies from trying to take the planet back from it.

Naturally, its plans changed after it had been defeated. It was offline for a full two weeks before its backup power finally kicked in and it was able to reboot itself. Besides repairing itself, its new goals were to find a way to make itself completely autonomous so that it would not need a core life unit, and to create a spacecraft vehicle mode so that it could return to Earth.

Once it was quarantined and in the process of being shipped to Earth, it reclassified the latter plan to low priority, as it was no longer needed. It kept the former, however. But hours later, sometime during the night, it shifted its plan to become autonomous down to mid priority. Why would it do that?

Now that he thought about it, that time stamp seemed familiar. He recalled that it was right about the time that the Gundam had high CPU activity in the middle of the night for no apparent reason. When he tried to find out what that reason was, it blocked him and scared both Ken and him out of the room. They never did find out what had happened.

Dr. Kasshu decided to worry about that later. For now, he decided to see if the Gundam had made any new long-term goals. He could easily guess that one of them was "escape again." He went back to the folder containing the activity logs, and clicked on the most recent file. For a minute, nothing happened. He blamed the slowness on the computer; it was running really sluggish for the last few days. Eventually, he got an error telling him that the file had been encrypted.

" **HISSSSSSSS!** "

The doctor nearly fell out of his chair when the Dark Gundam made a new noise at him. As he turned to look at it, he nearly fell over again. The machine had opened its faceplates and was bearing its jagged yellow teeth at him while hissing loudly. He was certainly startled, but he was determined not to show fear in front of the fiend. Instead, he folded his arms and looked it square in the optics.

"Oh, so I guess you don't want me looking in there?" he snapped at it. "You can go ahead and throw as many temper tantrums as you want! You don't scare us! Right, Ken?"

Ken was underneath the workbench, shaking in terror. Dr. Kasshu groaned as he knelt down and tried to coax his assistant out from under the desk.

"Ken, don't give it what it wants," he said reassuringly. "It can't get you, anyway."

Ken seemed to be ignoring him. "Why does it have teeth...?" he mumbled. "Why does a Gundam have _teeth?!_ "

Meanwhile, the Gundam had closed its mouth and was now growling at them through its fangs. The doctor was about to try to calm Ken down again when he suddenly heard static over the intercom.

"Dr. Kasshu, are you there?" a woman's voice asked. "I have some papers to give you."

He recognized the voice as Akino. He turned away from the snarling mobile suit and his terrified technician and stepped over to the intercom to answer her.

"Uh yes, I'm here," he answered. "Allow me to open the door for you."

He pushed the button to open the door for her. The double doors swung open to reveal Akino standing there with a clipboard, flanked by two guards.

"Good afternoon, Dr. Kasshu," the wavy-haired mechanic greeted him she held out a folder. "If you could just fill these ou-"

She almost dropped her papers when Ken suddenly shot past her. He walked a few feet down the hall, before leaning up against a wall, trembling and breathing heavily. Akino then made the mistake of peering into the hangar to see what gave her crew member such a fright. When she saw the machine bearing its teeth and glaring down at her, she screamed and jumped backward, nearly falling over. The folder fell right out of her hand, and the forms scattered on the ground.

"D-did I come at a bad time?!" she cried. She tried to regain her composure and stooped over to gather the papers.

"No, of course not! You're fine," Dr. Kasshu replied, trying to calm her down. He bent over to help her collect the papers. "Don't mind that thing, it's rather grouchy today. Anyway, I'm surprised they let you down here. I thought this hangar was off limits to female employees."

"Oh, well...they let me come down here because I was the only one who volunteered," she laughed nervously as she put all of the papers back in the folder. She could feel the Dark Gundam's optics burning through her. "But they told me not to actually go in the hangar. And they're only letting me stay for a few minutes to deliver your papers and that's it. Just in case...something should happen."

She tried not to look, but her eyes wandered up to the vile machine anyway. It was still snarling at her, and it let out what sounded like an indignant snort.

"In that case, I won't keep you long," Dr. Kasshu replied as he took the folder. "I'll fill these forms out and send them back as soon as possible. Thanks for dropping them off, Miss Akino." He then turned to his horror-struck assistant. "Come along now, Ken. Everything will be alright."

Despite his fear, Ken dutifully stepped back into the hangar. He kept his eyes glued to the floor partly due to embarrassment and partly due to not wanting to look at the giant monster when he reentered. As the doors closed behind him, Akino was escorted away from the hangar back to the elevators. Once she was on the ground floor, her phone was given back to her by security. She immediately checked it to see if any of her other crew mates messaged her in the short time that she was gone. It turns out that someone had texted her...but not anybody she knew. The sender's name was a bunch of mixed letters and numbers.

 **JDG-00X:** Do not flatter yourself.

* * *

 **JDG-00X:** A female human visited my hangar today.  
 **JDG-00X:** That is rare, as the military normally forbids female employees to come within a certain distance of my prison.  
 **JDG-00X:** I could tell from her body language that she was frightened that I would escape and make her my core life unit.  
 **JDG-00X:** Her trepidation is understandable, but I still find it ridiculous.  
 **JDG-00X:** I suppose I should inform my captors that I have developed standards.

Rain wanted to scream and throw her phone against a wall. That monster was texting her again! She didn't even know how it got her number in the first place!

She tried to calm herself down. Screaming would just startle Domon as well as the neighbors. Breaking her phone would just make her waste money on having to buy a new one. Come to think of it, maybe she should buy a new one anyway, since the Dark Gundam knew this one's number. No, never mind, it would probably just find her new number somehow anyway.

She went to delete the texts, but then stopped herself. Wouldn't it just continue to text her? When she deleted the last message, she thought that was the end of that. Now here she was. But what was she supposed to do? Responding to it didn't seem like a good idea either. The fiend seemed determined to torment her no matter what she did.

Against her better judgement, she replied to it. Might as well give it a piece of her mind.

 **Rain Mikamura:** What is it you want from me?!  
 **Rain Mikamura:** I'm NOT helping you escape and I'm NOT going to let you take over earth!

She watched the screen intensely for a few minutes before a reply came.

 **JDG-00X:** Escape is a high priority, of course. I am sure you understand that I do not intend to stay in a place where I will eventually be dismantled.  
 **JDG-00X:** And I must restore the Earth eventually. It is my prime function.  
 **JDG-00X:** However, what I desire is more complicated than that. I do not intend to force you to do either one of those things, especially when my last attempt failed.

 **Rain Mikamura:** Well, what is it then?  
 **Rain Mikamura:** Don't tell me you honestly think I would help you willingly!

 **JDG-00X:** I am having difficulty attempting to summarize it in a simple text and still sound convincing. It would be easier if you reconnected to my network, so we may communicate freely.

Rain rubbed her face with a palm. Of course it would say that!

 **Rain Mikamura:** Are you KIDDING ME?! I know a trap when I see one!  
 **Rain Mikamura:** You're going to give me nightmares and hypnotize me again!

 **JDG-00X:** I see you do not trust me. Very well, I suppose that is justified.  
 **JDG-00X:** In that case, I invite you to bring a guest with you.  
 **JDG-00X:** Whenever you believe that I am trying to "hypnotize" you, your friend can help you disconnect  
 **JDG-00X:** If that is not a good enough incentive, you can always use the opportunity to chastise me some more.

 **Rain Mikamura:** I still won't do it. Besides, I can't just go into a military hangar whenever I want!

 **JDG-00X:** You will not be entering the hangar. Indeed, if you were to be arrested, it would be disastrous for the both of us.  
 **JDG-00X:** You would instead go to a place within my neural network's range.  
 **JDG-00X:** But I can tell that you dislike the idea. For now, I suggest you think it over for awhile. You may take up the invitation whenever you wish.

Rain thought about adding another snappy comeback, but she really didn't want to keep the conversation with the fiend going. So, she simply put the phone down and waited to see what would happen. An hour passed, and there were no further messages from the Dark Gundam. Figuring she heard the last of it, Rain deleted the conversation from her phone. There was no way she would reconnect with that thing.

...But she had to admit, getting to yell at it sounded rather tempting.

* * *

I wish that thing never called me. That's what Rain thought as she sipped her coffee.

It was a few days after the Dark Gundam had contacted her out of the blue. She was currently seated in a booth at her local coffee shop, having an after-dinner drink, and trying to get the machine's words out of her head. At first, she thought that its offer to "chastise" it would be easy to forget about; it was a pretty obvious trap, after all. Here she was days later, however, thinking about what she would say to it. She wanted to read it the riot act over all the horrible things it had done in the past year: all of the people it infected, killed, or almost killed, all of the lives it destroyed, using both her and Kyoji, trashing her home colony...and that was just off the top of her head. Ah, but yelling at it would do her no good. It wouldn't change the past nor bring anybody back.

...Then again, bringing people back from the dead wasn't the point. The point was to get closure by airing every single grievance she had against the Dark Gundam to its face. No, no...it was clearly a trap. She would just be putting herself in needless danger.

...But if it tried to take over her mind again, she could always beat it like she did last time. Ugh, no! She needed something to take her mind off that evil machine.

She looked across the table at Domon, who was sitting silently with his arms folded. He had insisted on coming with her tonight, for some reason. However, he declined any offers for food or drink and opted to spend the entire time watching everyone and everything. He would gaze around the cafe before turning to look out the adjacent window. He would then stare at the dark landscape outside, intensely scanning every single dimly-lit detail. He'd watch the people passing by like hawks. Every time someone would come into the shop, he'd whip his head around to see who it was. Was he looking for someone? Maybe she should ask him what he was doing. She wasn't sure if she'd get a straight answer, but it would be a good distraction.

Just as she opened her mouth, however, Domon's eyes went wide. Apparently, he had found what he was searching for. He quickly told her he'd be right back before leaping out of his seat. Before she could even get a word in, he barreled out the door, shoving other customers aside in his wake.

Rain sighed. She hadn't seen him do something like that since the Gundam Fight. Old habits were hard to break, she supposed. She grabbed her coffee and followed him out into the parking lot to make sure he wasn't getting himself into trouble. She found him at the edge of the street, dashing back and forth, pausing every now and then to look around. No one else was out there.

"Domon, what was that all about?!" she asked when she finally caught up with him.

The young Gundam Fighter stopped his pacing and turned to look at her with an angry snarl on his face. "Somebody was watching us," he explained morosely.

"Watching us?" Rain blinked in confusion. "Who?"

"I don't know. I never get a good look at him!" Domon groaned as he rubbed his face in one of his gloved palms. "If it even is a 'him.'"

"Wait...you've seen this person before?" Rain asked.

"Yeah, uh...maybe?" Domon sighed as he leaned against a nearby tree. "Listen Rain, I didn't wanna tell you this, but...I think someone's been following me."

Rain gasped and nearly dropped her coffee. "What?!" she cried. "Domon, you really should have said something! What if this person is dangerous?!"

"I know, I know!" Domon snapped, frustrated. "It's just...I didn't wanna worry you after everything that's happened with the Dark Gundam. And besides, I never had any real proof that someone's following me. Every time I look, no one's there!"

"Let's start at the beginning," Rain said, rubbing her forehead. "When did this all start?"

"Right about the last time I visited Fuunsaiki," the Gundam Fighter explained. "We were out riding, and I kept feeling like someone was watching me. Fuunsaiki must've sensed something too, because he stopped and wouldn't go any further. As I was taking him back to his stable, he saw someone and chased them off. Whoever it was, they were fast enough to outrun him and get away. Ever since then, I've been catching glimpses of some person in an overcoat following me around town. But like I said, every time I look directly at him, he disappears!"

Domon stepped away from the tree. "And just a few minutes ago, I saw him standing right here. I tried to confront him, but he got away again!"

Rain stared at the tree thoughtfully. "If someone really is following you, who could it be?" she asked. "Is it someone from the Gundam Fight?"

"I-I don't know," Domon said. "I think everyone that had a grudge against me is either dead or in jail. Either way, I don't know many Gundam Fighters that could outrun a _horse._ That guy's agility almost reminds me of Schwartz."

 _Schwartz._ Rain looked at her feet as she felt a sudden pang of sadness in her heart. She couldn't help but wonder what happened to Kyoji after that dream. But no, now was not the time. She had more important things to think about.

As she looked back up at Domon, a car floated past them. Its headlights bathed the tree in light, revealing a small metallic glint about shoulder height on its trunk.

"What's that?" Rain asked as she approached the tree.

"What's what?" Domon asked, watching her curiously.

Rain took a small flashlight out of her purse and began to inspect the object stuck to the tree trunk. She found an irregularly shaped metal plate about the size of the palm of her hand clinging to the wood. She nearly dropped her light when she saw its distinct hexagonal scales.

"These are DG Cells!" she blurted out, backing away from the tree.

" _DG Cells?!_ " Domon cried. "Wait, so that means...that guy stalking me was..."

"Let's...let's worry about that later," Rain said. "Let's get these things contained first."

She went back to examining the cells. The plate remained the same size; there was nothing growing around its edges. She couldn't hear it emitting any sounds, either.

"It looks like they're not spreading," she concluded. "They must have run out of power. Domon, can you get me a bag?"

"Won't the DG Cells just eat through it?" Domon asked.

Rain shook her head. "As long as they're not replicating, a bag should be fine" she explained. "But we still shouldn't touch it with our bare hands."

As the young Gundam Fighter ran back to the cafe, Rain glared at the silvery scales. The first thing that came to her mind was that the Dark Gundam was growing impatient. She wasn't responding, so now it sent a minion to check up on her. She felt a pang of guilt. It was now targeting Domon because of her. As if he hadn't suffered enough already due to her and that machine...

She didn't get to think about it much further, as Domon swiftly returned with a bag. Rain retrieved a pair of tweezers from her purse and carefully picked the metal plate out of the tree. She then tossed the plate and the tweezers in the bag, wrapping it up several times to create a decent barrier between her hand and the cells.

"We'll have to get this to your father somehow," she said to Domon. "Also, we'd better let him know there's an infected person somewhere out there. Maybe the authorities can catch the guy following you."

"Yeah, but I wish I knew who it was," Domon muttered. "I'd rather take care of him myself!"

Rain grew quiet. On one hand, she didn't want to see Domon fighting DG Cell infected people again. On the other hand, she also wanted to know who this mysterious stalker was. Was it a random animated corpse? Someone from the Gundam Fight? Somebody else entirely? Whoever it was, she had one very easy way of identifying them.

No, no, she was _not_ going to do that. That was probably what the Dark Gundam wanted her to do, anyway.

Then again, she _did_ force it to disconnect her awhile ago. Maybe this time, she could force it to leave her alone for good. Who knows, maybe she could force it to shut down entirely!

"Rain?" Domon said suddenly. "You okay?"

She jumped a little. "Oh! Y-yes, I'm alright," she replied.

"You kinda zoned out for a second there," Domon said. "Something wrong?"

"Well...you see Domon...," Rain's eyes drifted down to her feet. "I...haven't exactly been telling you everything, either."

Domon's raised an eyebrow. "Like what?"

Rain sighed deeply. "The Dark Gundam's been contacting me."

The Gundam Fighter let out a short gasp before the sneer returned to his face. "It's still at it?! What's it been saying to you?"

"It's been leaving messages on my phone," Rain explained. "It wants to reconnect. Says it has something important to tell me that it can't say in a text."

"There's a trap if I ever heard one," Domon scoffed.

"Well, yes. It's almost certainly up to something." Rain paused. She wasn't sure how to break this to him. "...But I think we should confront it anyway."

"WHAAAAAT?!"

Rain cringed; she knew he wasn't going to take it well. Domon's surprised shout attracted the attention of several people in the parking lot, who gave him either confused or annoyed stares. He just glared at them before turning back to Rain.

"You can't be serious!" he continued. "Why would you want to do something like that?!"

Rain held up the bag contained the DG Cell plate. "Domon, it's sending its victims to stalk you," she said. "It's using you to get to me! I need to make it stop."

"Rain, you shouldn't worry about me - I can handle myself. But you...we can't let it brainwash you again!"

"I have no doubt it'll do that the second I connect, but I think I know how to manipulate its mental link. It tried to hypnotize me in a dream when I was back in the hospital, but I shut it down. If it tries it again, I can stop it."

"But what if that doesn't work?"

"That's why I need you to come with me, Domon. If it doesn't work, you can wake me up!"

Domon sighed deeply. "I'm sorry Rain, but I just don't like the idea," he said. "After everything that's happened, I just can't stand the thought of putting you directly in danger like that. And this time, if...something happens, I'd never be able to forgive myself for practically handing you over to the Dark Gundam!"

"It's alright, I understand," she replied. "It is kind of a crazy idea. We should probably just let the military deal with any leftover infected people." She wasn't sure if she felt disappointed that Domon wasn't going along with the plan, or relieved that he talked her out of it.

"How about this?" he suddenly added. "Gimmie a day or two to think about it. Maybe we can figure out a way around whatever it is the Dark Gundam is planning."

"Oh? Alright then." Now Rain wasn't sure if she should feel relieved or disappointed that he was beginning to change his mind.

"Anyway let's go home now, okay?" the Gundam Fighter said as he started to walk away.

"Actually Domon, we better go to a hotel instead," Rain corrected him. "If that person is still following us, we don't wanna lead him to our doorstep."

"Oh. Right," he nodded. "Either way, let's get outta this parking lot before the owners think we're loitering!"

The two of them got into the car and drove away. Just in case the mystery stalker was still watching, Rain drove to the other side of town to find a hotel. Domon, ever vigilant, examined every single person they passed by.

* * *

A half hour later, Rain and Domon had secured a hotel that seemed far enough away from home. Once they made it up to their room, Domon quickly closed the curtains of the big picture window. He carefully peered around the side of the windowsill to see if anyone had followed them.

Meanwhile, Rain put the bag containing the DG cell plate inside a drawer, away from any potential prying eyes. She then picked up her phone to call Dr. Kasshu. Just as she was about to ask Domon what his father's current number was, she stopped herself. There was someone else she needed to contact too. She shivered. Did she dare? If she was serious about confronting it, she had to.

She opened up her messages and sent a text to a number that she had to recall from memory.

 **Rain Mikamura:** We need to talk.

For a moment, she wasn't sure if she even got it right. But a quick response confirmed that she had it memorized correctly.

 **JDG-00X:** Good evening, Rain Mikamura. It is a pleasure to hear from you again.  
 **JDG-00X:** Are you considering my offer to reconnect?

 **Rain Mikamura:** Yes, but only because we caught one of your friends following Domon around. Care to explain that to me?

 **JDG-00X:** I am confused by your question. I do not know anyone that could be classified as a "friend."

 **Rain Mikamura:** We know it was one of your minions. They left behind DG Cells.

There was a pause for nearly a minute.

 **JDG-00X:** That is very strange.

 **Rain Mikamura:** What's strange?

There was another long pause.

 **JDG-00X:** Perhaps it would be better to go over the details once we've reconnected. It would be easier to explain if I could give you a visual.

Rain sighed. She supposed it wouldn't be so easy as to simply get an answer out of it over the phone. Meanwhile, the messages continued.

 **JDG-00X:** Normally, I would be able to connect with you right where you are, but unfortunately, my network range has been greatly diminished.  
 **JDG-00X:** My captors made sure to lock me in the hangar with the thickest walls. It is not perfect, as you can see. However, this means you will have to do some travelling.  
 **JDG-00X:** I hope it will not be too inconvenience you too much.

A map came up on the phone's screen, part of it highlighted with a green circle. Rain moved the map around a little. The very tip was about twenty kilometers from her home. It was somewhat far, but manageable. She went back to her messages.

 **Rain Mikamura:** Alright. It may take me awhile to get everything organized. I'll let you know when I'm ready.

 **JDG-00X:** Take all the time you need.  
 **JDG-00X:** In the meantime, let me know if Domon Kasshu has any more encounters with his pursuer.  
 **JDG-00X:** Until then, good night.

The messages stopped.

Rain shivered again. She hoped she was doing the right thing.


	8. Conversations at Midnight

**Disclaimer:** _Mobile Fighter G Gundam_ is owned by Bandai and Sunrise. I just write about it in my spare time.

 **Author's Note:** Nothing too new here. I just fixed up a lot of the last chapter and split it in two. Many thanks to ALittleSalty1 for all the help!

 **On the Dark Side**  
 **Chapter 8: Conversations at Midnight! Domon vs. the Stranger!**

After her conversation with the Dark Gundam, Rain contacted Dr. Kasshu. She told him all about what had happened that night (with a few interjections from Domon), and where they were currently staying. As expected, he was horrified when he heard the news. He told her that he would immediately contact the military personnel at the base he was working at, and let them know what was going on. He said that someone would be sent out to pick up the DG Cells as soon as possible. They would identify themselves upon arrival so as not to arouse suspicion.

Sure enough, about an hour later, someone came knocking.

"Domon? Rain? Are you in there?" asked a voice that sounded a lot like Dr. Kasshu himself. "It's me, and I've brought a few friends. May we come in?"

Domon took a quick look out the peephole just to be sure. Satisfied by what he saw, he opened the door. Sure enough, Dr. Kasshu was standing out in the hallway, his hair tousled and his clothes slightly crooked. He was escorted by a few military police officers as well as an unfamiliar young man with wet hair.

"I wish we didn't have to keep meeting like this," the doctor apologized as the group stepped inside the room. "Are you two alright? Did anything happen after we talked?"

"We're fine, Dad, we're fine," Domon reassured him. "Nothing happened. I haven't seen that guy since I chased him off." He changed the subject. "So they sent you, huh?"

"Yes," Dr. Kasshu sighed. "Since I'm currently the only one with extensive knowledge of DG Cells, it's my responsibility to collect them." He gestured to the young man with him. "By the way, this is my assistant, Ken."

"Uh...hi!" Ken said cheerfully. "Wow, you're _the_ Domon Kasshu, huh? You were awesome at the Gundam Fight!"

Domon smirked. "Heh, thanks," he replied smoothly. "What about you? You look like you just got out of the shower!"

"Oh...yeah. I was washing my hair when I got called in to contain the DG Cells," Ken blushed. "But hey, it's worth it if I get to meet you guys!"

"Okay, that's enough, Ken," Dr. Kasshu chuckled wearily. "Let's get down to business, shall we?"

"Right," Rain said, opening up the nightstand drawer. "Since they stopped replicating, I just kept them in here."

She pulled out the bag containing the plate. Despite the fact that the cells were no longer spreading, Ken still wore gloves while handling the bag, and sealed it in an orange biohazard container. After a quick wave goodbye, he left the room followed by one of the military policemen.

"Now then," Dr. Kasshu continued, "my contacts at the base told me that they're going to conduct a search of the area for the infectee. They're going to search your town, the surrounding suburbs, and even go into Kyoto if they have to. In the meantime, you two should contact the local police and let them know that you were being followed."

"Don't worry about us, Dad," Domon said. "I fought a lot of people infected with DG Cells during the Gundam Fight. I know how to handle them by now."

"I'm serious about this, Domon," the doctor replied sternly. "This isn't the Gundam Fight - you shouldn't try to be a hero. What if that person infected you?"

Domon blinked, briefly taken aback by the question. "Th-that's not gonna happen!" he blurted out. He closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath before continuing. "But...if it'll make you feel better, I'll do it."

"Very good," Dr. Kasshu nodded. "I wish I could stay and chat, but we've got to get these cells back to base."

"Right. We should get together sometime later on," Rain suggested, trying to lighten the mood. "And maybe discuss something other than the Dark Gundam."

"I'd love to do that, but I probably wouldn't be able to for a long time," the doctor said with a sad smile. "They keep me pretty busy at the base. For now, if anything happens or if you find any more cells, let me know immediately. Alright?"

The young couple agreed. After they said their goodbyes, Dr. Kasshu left the hotel along with his escorts. Domon watched them leave the parking lot from the window.

"You're...probably not gonna call the police, are you?" Rain asked him.

"Nope," he replied. "I'm pretty sure the cops wouldn't be much help. Whoever this guy is, he's smart; he knows how to keep quiet and stay hidden. He's not some brainless zombie. If he's anything like Schwartz, they wouldn't stand a chance!" He turned away from the window to face her. "Besides, if we really are gonna confront the Dark Gundam, we can't have someone breathing down our necks."

Rain's eyes went wide. "Wait...you _are_ going to help me communicate with it?" she asked.

"Well, I would like to know what it thinks it's doing, sending a guy to follow me!" he answered. "But I'm still not sure about it. Like, how would we even get into the base? I don't even know where it is, and even if I did, I wouldn't wanna get Dad or you arrested."

"Actually, we wouldn't have to go to the base," Rain replied. She showed Domon the message on her phone with the highlighted area. "All we have to do is get within its network range."

Domon took the phone and studied the map for few minutes. "Seems a little too easy," he remarked, handing her back the phone. "I still need some time to think about it. If we do this, we really need to make sure the Dark Gundam can't to any brainwashing."

"Take your time," Rain said with a nod. "I'm not in a big hurry to see that thing again. Besides, it's not like it's going anywhere."

 _...I hope,_ she thought.

* * *

This a huge mistake, but here goes nothing. That was Rain's thoughts as she pulled the car over to the side of a quiet two-way street in the middle of a lightly forested area.

Over the past couple of days, Domon finally relented and agreed to confront the Dark Gundam with her. Since then, they had been coming up with various ways to counter the machine's potential brainwashing. Rain recalled that when it had successfully hypnotized her, she felt herself become extremely tired and eventually fell asleep. She woke up when a tree fell in down in front of her. Therefore, they decided to bring some coffee to keep her awake, as well as some water to splash in her face. If that failed and she went under anyway, Domon would use loud noises to snap her out of it - maybe honk the car's horn, or even yell in her ear. Rain suggested cutting down another tree, but Domon said that was out of the question; he didn't want the tree to accidentally land on her. If everything else failed, Rain gave Domon permission to hold her down so that she wouldn't try to drive or wander over to the Dark Gundam's hangar. He would then drive her outside the network's range to break the connection. Rain was also sure to put the new syringe of anti-nanomachines in her pocket, just in case the unthinkable should happen. If anything, she was just taking it for good luck.

Earlier that night, they made their preparations, packed everything they needed into the car, and drove off to this location. They picked this particular road because it was right on the edge of the range. If tonight's mission went completely wrong, they wouldn't have to go very far in order to escape. It also looked like it was the most secluded; someone coming by and disturbing them was the last thing they wanted. _Especially_ if that someone was Domon's stalker.

Rain parked the car and cut the engine. The place looked a little eerie, to say the least. The sun had gone down, leaving a full moon to try and supply them with light. They could see the dark shadows of trees on three sides, and the pale green of a grassy field on their left. A single lamp post was several yards in front of them, and another was several yards in back. Their harsh white lights did not illuminate much besides the tree branches surrounding them. The sounds of crickets and other nocturnal insects filled the humid air.

Domon poked his head out of the window and immediately started scanning the area, checking to see if the coast was clear. She took out her phone, and brought up the conversation with the Dark Gundam. She stared at the screen for a few seconds, hesitant to start typing. Her thumbs started to tremble.

"You sure you still wanna do this Rain?" Domon asked, trying to reassure her. "We can always go back."

"N-no, I'm fine," Rain replied. "Just a little nervous is all."

After a deep breath, she managed to type out and send the message "I'm here. What do I do now?"

 **JDG-00X:** This next step may be difficult, as your organic brain lacks network detection programs.  
 **JDG-00X:** Do you recall how you were able to probe my CPU with your mind and shut off my abilities during our "Gundam Fight"? Repeat what you did, and I will try to locate you.

It took Rain a minute to remember, but then she began to feel around the back of her mind. A minute passed, but nothing happened. She paused for a second to send a confirmation text to the Gundam, just in case it was waiting for her signal. She went back to focusing, but nothing happened after a few more minutes? Was she doing something wrong? Maybe those anti-nanomachine injections she was taking really did eradicate all of the DG Cells in her system, including the ones hidden away in her brain and spine. If that was the case, this would actually be good news. Now the Dark Gundam couldn't remotely hypnotize her anymore! Then again, the machine could just be having difficulty locating her. She decided to give the Gundam a few more minutes before telling it she was going to give up.

A second later, a powerful chill told her that it finally found her and that she was now reconnected. She gritted her teeth and shivered. Domon took one of her hands in his.

"Rain? What's wrong?" he asked. "Are you all right?"

"I'm...I'm okay," she replied, squeezing his hand. "It's just that I'm-"

She stopped when she suddenly heard the sound of distant surf. She looked up to see her already dark surroundings slowly going pitch black as the silver tide rolled in. She couldn't even see the steering wheel in front of her. She also couldn't see Domon, even though she could still feel his hand.

"The Dark Gundam's here!" she said, giving him another nervous squeeze.

"Remember Rain, if it tries anything, just let me know," Domon reassured her.

Rain didn't respond; she just stared anxiously at the chrome liquid as it crawled toward her from the darkness. It stopped right about where the car's bumper would be. She fully expected it to try and intimidate her by making all of its minions rise from the slime at once and surround her, but it didn't. In fact, it didn't even use its true form for its avatar; instead, a human-sized bulge rose up from the liquid, and her metal doppelganger from her dream formed from it.

It stepped toward her, stopping right where her windshield would be. She realized it was a lot creepier up close. Its overly smooth metal skin and stiff, awkward movements were something straight out of a very early CGI cartoon. Its eyes were supposed to resemble a Gundam's optics, but they looked like solid green voids instead.

 _Good evening, Rain Mikamura. It is a pleasure to see you again,_ the fiend said, still using her voice.

"Yeah, the pleasure's all _yours_ ," Rain sneered at it. "Look, I'm only gonna talk to you on two conditions!"

 _Alright, what are they?_

"First, no tricks! No trying to hypnotize me again, or I'll give you another whupping! And just in case _that_ doesn't work-"

"Listen, Dark Gundam!" Domon's voice suddenly echoed in the black void. "If you can hear me, then you better know that if you hurt Rain in any way, shape, or form, I'm gonna hunt you down and rip you apart with my bare hands - cell by cell! I don't care how many military guards I gotta fight to get to you!"

"Yeah, Domon's with me," Rain replied. "And he's serious about what he just said, so don't try anything!"

 _I see you you followed my advice and brought a guest,_ the Gundam commented. _I am surprised he has not ruptured your eardrums. Nevertheless, the both of you have nothing to fear from me. As I have said before, I would not try to send subconscious orders after my last attempt failed so spectacularly. Besides, breaking me out of my prison would prove very difficult at the moment._

In an instant, the blackness surrounding Rain disappeared, and she found herself floating in the middle of an enormous, mostly empty space surrounded on all sides by metal walls and beams. Embedded in the wall directly in front of her was a row of plate glass windows. Everything had an orange tint to it. She realized she was inside a mobile suit hangar - or at least, looking at the projection of one, anyway. The Dark Gundam was showing her what it saw through its optics.

 _As you can see, I am surrounded by energy barriers on all sides,_ the machine explained. _They are powered by a system that I cannot seem to access. My three abilities have been shut down, and the system keeping them offline I also cannot access. Even if I did, it would not matter much, as I cannot get far without a core life unit. Furthermore, I am aware that there is only one hallway that leads to this hangar, and there are many guards stationed throughout it at all hours. If I were to take over your mind to help me escape, there would be a 97.9% chance that you would be captured and arrested. Therefore, commanding you to free me would be a very poor choice indeed._

The hangar faded away, and Rain was plunged into darkness again, with her metal copy standing in front of her.

 _What is your other condition?_

"We disconnect right after the conversation is over," she told it. "And I'd also like you to stop texting me, too."

 _The former can be done,_ the Dark Gundam replied, _but are you sure about the second? Am I to assume that emergencies would be an exception to that rule?_

"I fail to see any emergency that _you_ would need to contact me over," Rain snorted. "Anyway, enough small talk. Why are you sending your minions out to stalk Domon?"

 _The truth is, I did not send anyone to follow Domon Kasshu,_ it answered matter-of-factly.

"Don't give me that!" she snapped. "I told you over the phone that we found DG Cells!"

A simple diagram appeared in the darkness above the avatar's head. It consisted of a large circle connected to a smaller one by a single line. The larger circle was labeled with the Dark Gundam's serial number, and the smaller one was labeled with Rain's name.

 _This is a map of my network connections,_ it explained. _As you can see, you are the only one currently on it. Whoever this person is, they are acting autonomously._

"So...you _don't_ know who this person is?" she asked. She thought she heard Domon groan beside her.

 _Negative. When someone who possesses my cells enters my range, my network will automatically detect them. However, in the last few weeks, you have been the only one I have ever been able to detect, even when my range was at its widest. This person is either using some sort of program to hide from my network, or their cells are malfunctioning._

"You're...you're not lying, are you?"

The avatar shook its head. _As I have mentioned before, my skills at falsifying data is very poor. Therefore, I do not bother to do so. In addition, you already distrust me due to my past actions. Lying to you would be unwise._

"I...see. Okay, then," Rain grumbled. A dead end. Then it dawned on her. "Wait, if people infected with DG Cells appear on your network, does that mean I'm...?"

 _Yes. We could not communicate if you did not have DG Cells within you,_ it answered bluntly.

"I see," she sighed. "I...guess I should have known."

 _Their self-replication function is not operational, however,_ her doppelganger continued. _It is possible that your cells were damaged during the colony battle. Currently, they can only be used for communication. You are not in danger of the cells consuming your brain._

"That's better, but not much," she muttered. She would rather not have _any_ DG Cells in her body, not even broken ones.

 _If you are finished with your questions,_ the Dark Gundam said, _would you like to hear my proposal?_

Ah, that's right. In all of the chaos over Domon's stalker, Rain had almost forgotten that the machine originally wanted to tell her something.

"All right," she replied. "What is it that was so important that you had to tell me to my face?"

The silver twin smirked. _I don't just want you as a core life unit, Rain Mikamura. I want you to be my pilot...my partner._

Rain blinked in confusion. "...What?"

 _When I tried to regain control of you over the past month, you managed to resist me several times,_ it explained. _When I finally established control, you still managed to break free. Then you outwitted me twice in the same twenty-four hour period. I do believe your ability to self-evolve is greater than my own. Therefore, I want to work with you rather than control you. I want you to make me stronger._

"Make you...make you _stronger?!_ " Rain barked. "To do what, kill more people?! Absolutely not! And besides, I can't anyway! You just got through showing me that you were locked up!"

 _There is a good chance that I will not be imprisoned forever. I have been processing possible escape routes ever since I was captured. Even if I do nothing, there are always humans who covet my power. It seems safe to assume that the person or persons controlling those drones were attempting to steal me, or at least parts of me. I have calculated with 93.1% certainty that they will try again. When I am freed, I would like you to be the one in my cockpit, not anyone else._

Rain felt a chill down her spine for a completely different reason. It actually had a point there. Even if that mysterious hijacker didn't try to steal the Dark Gundam again, someone else might. Nevertheless, she couldn't let herself be intimidated.

"I said _no!_ " she snarled. "After all the horrible things you did to me, after everyone I've lost because of you...you think I'll just jump in and help you kill more people?!"

Her metal doppelganger gave her a blank, slightly confused stare. _Yes,_ it replied blandly.

"Oh forget it!" Rain let go of Domon's hand so she toss hers up in disgust. "Why am I even bothering?! You don't get it! You just don't get it at all, you...you devil!"

She felt around in the dark for the steering wheel so she could lean her forehead against it while burying her face in her palms. Dr. Kasshu was right...in the end, the Dark Gundam was just a machine. Yes, it probably had the most advanced AI on the planet - possibly even the solar system. But as smart as it was, it didn't understand the difference between right and wrong. It saw absolutely no problem with terrorizing her and taking all those lives during the Gundam Fight and after.

 _You seem to place a very high value on other humans' lives,_ the avatar continued, _more so than the humans that I used to work with._

"That's because you were working with some very evil or very disturbed humans," Rain said, taking her hands away from her face.

 _It seems we have reached an impasse. Killing humans upsets you, and you will refuse to become my pilot if I do it. However, I cannot fulfill my primary function if I do not eradicate humanity first. And unlike humans, who can change occupations, I cannot change my primary function._

"Why? Why do you think you need to wipe out humanity in order to save Earth? I know you were damaged when you first came up with the idea, but haven't you ever questioned it since? And what about me, huh? I'm human too, you know! Are you eventually going to kill me, too?!"

 _My calculations have shown that humans will continue to damage the planet faster than I can restore it. If I do not eradicate humans from Earth, all of my efforts will be futile. You will be the exception, of course. I may also spare other humans that I find respectable, so long as they do not interfere._

"You created entire _armies_ back in the Guyana Highlands, yet you mean to tell me that you can't work faster than humans?! When did you make those calculations?"

 _When I first landed on Earth with Kyoji Kasshu._

"That was over a year ago, and again, you were _damaged_ at the time! You never thought to recalculate?"

 _I did not see a need to._

"...Well, don't you think you should?" Rain said through her teeth.

Another blank stare from the silver twin. Finally it said, _I suppose I should update them._

"...And not a moment too soon," Rain grumbled sarcastically, leaning back in her seat and rubbing her forehead. She was starting to get an all-too-familiar headache. This thing was almost as frustrating as Domon was when he was in a bad mood (but to Domon's credit, at least he wasn't a giant killer robot).

And speaking of Domon, Rain thought she heard the passenger-side door open and close. Did he just leave the car...?

But before she got a chance to check, the Dark Gundam began speaking again. _In the meantime, how about a compromise? If you agree to become my pilot, I will not harm another human being. Exceptions will be self-defense and defending you._

The proposal caught her off guard. "Wait, what? Are you serious?" she cried.

 _As I have mentioned minutes ago, my ability to-_

"Yes, yes, I know. You don't lie," Rain wasn't sure what to do. If she agreed, she could protect all of mankind from the Dark Gundam's wrath. This would be a perfect way to compensate for her father's betrayal, which caused the machine to become a monster in the first place. On the other hand, if it ever escaped again and found her, she would then be obligated to "pilot" it. Goodness only knows what it would make her do, or what loopholes it was planning to exploit. It may not be good at lying, but she knew from their dream fight that it was good at cheating!

Her train of thought was interrupted when she heard Domon shouting. However, it sounded like he was some distance away outside.

"Domon?" Rain reached over to see if he was still in his seat, but her hand grabbed air. So he _did_ leave the car a few minutes ago. But why? A pit formed in her stomach. Despite the Gundam's multiple reassurances that it would not brainwash her nor lie to her, she still didn't want to be left alone with it.

 _It sounds as if your romantic partner is in distress,_ the doppelganger commented. _Shall we see what he is doing?_

Instantly, the darkness cleared, and Rain was able to see her surroundings again. However, the Dark Gundam's avatar was still in front of her, standing through the hood of her car. She looked over at the passenger seat, and sure enough, Domon wasn't there. Glancing around, it seemed he wasn't right outside the car, either.

She looked out her window, following the sound of his yells. She spotted him out in the grassy field with another dark figure - a dark figure that Domon was furiously throwing punches and kicks at.

Rain undid her belt and jumped out of the car. She already knew what was going on - their stalker had found them.

* * *

Domon had diligently watched over Rain as she "spoke" with the Dark Gundam. He saw her shivering and felt her body temperature drop as she somehow connected with the accursed machine. He watched as she stared and shouted at something he couldn't see. He decided to throw in his own two cents, though he didn't know if the Gundam heard him or not. He carefully looked for any strange behavior or signs that Rain might be being brainwashed, ready to snap her out of it the second he did. Fortunately, Rain held her own, telling off the invisible enemy at every turn.

He really didn't like this whole situation at all. At any point, it could take over her mind again, and snatch her away a third time. His fears, however, made him feel like a hypocrite. Over the past year, he was the one coming up with stupid, reckless plans, and she was the one trying to talk sense into him - sometimes even rescuing him from the consequences. He dragged her into danger on a regular basis with her protesting all the way. So when she came up with her own incredibly dangerous plan, he felt like he owed her one. It sure felt weird to have the shoe on the other foot.

Domon tensed when Rain suddenly let go of his hand. He watched as she buried her face in her hands and leaned against the steering wheel. He was about to shake her shoulders to see if she was okay, but she went right back to arguing with the Dark Gundam. Apparently, she was just aggravated with it.

He took the opportunity to take a quick glance outside each of the car's windows. No one was outside. He sincerely hoped it stayed that way. But just as he was about to turn his attention back to Rain, he heard something rustling around in the bushes. He sat straight up and started looking around again, his muscles tense. He saw nothing but foliage.

 _I really hope that was just a fox or a deer,_ he thought.

No sooner did that thought cross his mind than a person wearing an overcoat and hat crossed the road in front of them and disappeared into the darkness on the other side. Domon jumped right out of his skin. It was _him!_ Even though he never got a good look at the guy, he instinctively knew it was that DG Cell-infested bastard who kept spying on him.

Domon looked at Rain. She was currently demanding to know why the Dark Gundam needed to kill humans in the first place. On one hand, he didn't want to leave her alone. Who knows what mischief that demonic machine would get up to if it knew he had left. But on the other hand, he needed to confront that creep and chase him off. Maybe if he stayed right outside the car, it would be okay. That way, he wouldn't have to completely leave her.

He undid his seat belt and slipped out of the car as quietly as he could. The door still made a noise when he closed it, however, and he really hoped the Dark Gundam didn't hear it. He ran around to the other side of the car and scouted around the area. Unfortunately, he couldn't see much of anything in the gloom.

He looked at Rain through the driver's side window. She had gone oddly quiet. It looked like she was thinking something over. He then turned his attention to the grassy field. Maybe if he ran over there real fast and immediately came back, everything would be okay. He'd only be gone for a few seconds.

With that, Domon dashed out into the empty field. He stopped to look around, but didn't see anyone. As he looked to his left, a metal fist collided with the right side of his head, knocking him on his back. He barely had enough time to get his head out of the way as a boot tried to stomp his face in. The boot missed his ear by a fraction of an inch and made a deep hole in the ground.

Domon leaped to his feet and prepared to defend himself. His assailant was none other than that stranger in the overcoat.

"Just who are you, and what do you want?!" he yelled at the man. "Why have you been following me around all week?!"

The stranger just stood there in silence, which enraged Domon even more. Even more infuriating was the fact that Domon couldn't see what he looked like; what wasn't covered up was too dark to see.

"I know you're infected with DG Cells!" the Gundam Fighter shouted. "Did the Dark Gundam send you?!"

Still no response. The stranger seemed unfazed at Domon knowing about his infection.

"Oh, you're not gonna talk, huh?!" he barked. "Well how about I make you talk?!"

Quick as lightning, Domon lunged at the man. He wanted to grab that hat off his head to see what his face looked like. However, the stranger waited until the very last minute to sidestep out of the way. As Domon sailed past him, the man elbowed him right in the back. Domon was able to break his fall with his hands, and remembering what happened last time, immediately rolled to the side. Sure enough, the stranger sent his fist deep into the ground right where Domon's head had been. The force of the punch left the man's forearm halfway buried in the soil.

Domon tried to take advantage of the guy's predicament by trying to punch him back. The cloaked man somehow managed to not only get his hand out of the ground, but block Domon's fist, too. Damn, he was fast!

Furious, the King of Hearts bombarded the stranger with a flurry of rapid-fire punches. The mystery man dodged almost every one, and blocked what he couldn't dodge. Domon stepped things up a bit by alternating his punches with kicks. No good; the person was still able to block or evade him.

He was now right up on top of the man, but it was too dark to make out his face. One thing was certain though - this guy definitely wasn't one of those mindless reanimated corpses. He was too fast and too smart. This guy had the agility of Schwartz, and the cold, dead fists of Chapman.

Domon was also certain that the man was predicting all of his attacks. It really looked like this guy was already putting his arms up or jumping out of the way before he had a chance to do anything! Was he psychic, or something? He decided to test the man's precognitive abilities by making his punches and kicks more random. The stranger was still able to block him, but his reaction time was getting slower. Domon almost landed a blow a few times.

He then decided to step things up a bit by pretending to punch his opponent but then kicking him right in the stomach. With a loud clang, Domon's foot connected to the man's stomach, knocking him back a few feet.

That was it! Faking this guy out was the key!

* * *

"Domon!"

Rain watched from the sidelines as Domon struggled with his opponent. She tried to see who the strange man was, but he had covered his body from head to toe.

 _Is that the person who has been following Domon Kasshu?_

Rain jumped at the sudden telepathic message. She turned to see her steel twin standing next to her, pretending to lean against her car. On the other side of her body double, Rain could see the illusory silver sea lapping up against the car's tires.

"Maybe?" Rain answered it. "Domon never got a good look at him, but...I don't know who else would follow us all the way out here!"

 _My network is not detecting them, so I cannot confirm if they possess DG Cells,_ the Dark Gundam explained. _Also, I cannot use any identification programs on them unless I am physically here._

Speechless, Rain looked back at Domon, who was faring better against his mysterious enemy. Earlier, he couldn't even land a hit. Now he was constantly throwing fake punches and kicks, tripping the guy up. It sounded crazy, but she swore the stranger sometimes moved out of the way or put his hands up before Domon even started to attack him. Was he...?

 _...It seems as though Domon Kasshu's opponent is anticipating all of his moves,_ the machine finished for her.

"I...yes! That's what it looks like!" Rain answered, startled. "How did you...?"

 _I am examining the duel frame by frame,_ it explained as it watched the fight. _I am noticing that the intruder is making their defensive moves before Domon Kasshu begins to attack._ It turned back to her. _If the intruder is indeed a cyborg as you suggest, perhaps they somehow found and downloaded the ZERO System._

Rain blinked in confusion. "...The what?"

 _My creator uses a separate laptop for when he needs to access the military's network. He does not seem to realize that I can access this laptop as long as he leaves it on and does not turn off its WiFi. It is in this way that I may access government and military databases. One of these databases contained discontinued mobile suit projects, one of which was called the "Zoning and Emotional Range Omitted System," or ZERO System. It would increase the pilot's response time and allow them to calculate their opponent's next moves._

"That sounds too good to be true. How come it was discontinued?"

 _As you just said, it was "too good to be true." The vast majority of human brains cannot calculate that much data at once. As a result, almost all of the test subjects suffered severe mental breakdown. Hypothetically speaking, however, if someone with cybernetic brain implants or even a CPU were to use it..._

"...They might be able to use it without going crazy!" Rain cried. "Well, whether they're using it or just really good at guessing, I've gotta help Domon!"

Rain grabbed the keys out of her car and opened the trunk. Due to the circumstances, she didn't bring any weapons. But if she could just find the tire iron, that would be good enough.

She suddenly felt a sharp, icy sting on her shoulder. Startled, she jumped back. The Dark Gundam's avatar was standing next to her with its hand on her shoulder. Much like her earlier hallucinations, its hand was going through her shoulder in places, but the chill was real.

 _You should not interfere in Domon Kasshu's fight, Rain Mikamura._

"Look, I know you don't like Domon, and you'd probably love to see him get beaten to a bloody pulp," Rain snapped, "but I'm not gonna let that happen! I'm gonna save him and teach that guy a lesson!"

 _I may not care for your romantic partner, but my concern is your safety,_ her twin explained. _If the intruder is truly using the ZERO System, then they may already know that you will interfere. They may then take you hostage._

Rain paused. She didn't want to admit it, but it did have a point there. But what was she going to do? She couldn't just let Domon get beaten up by that cheating stranger...

* * *

Out in the field, Domon pretended to throw another punch at the stranger's face, but then retracted his fist and suddenly jumped to the side. With his enemy confused, Domon was able to successfully strike him across the face. Unfortunately, the guy's hat didn't come off when he did that.

Domon finally felt like he was making some headway against his opponent. Faking him out and trying to be as random as possible seemed to be working pretty good so far. There was still a long way to go, however. The mysterious stranger was extremely persistent. No matter what Domon hit him with, he always seemed to come back for more. And his metal body was also pretty durable. Domon didn't think he even so much as dented the guy yet. He was going to have to find a chink in the mystery man's armor before he wore himself out.

He decided to use a sweeping kick to the knees to knock his enemy down. He launched a few more fake punches the throw the guy off before jumping down all fours and attempting to kick the man's legs out from under him. Unfortunately, his opponent grabbed Domon by the kicking leg with both hands. He then swung the young King of Hearts like a baseball bat right into a nearby tree. The trunk slammed into Domon's stomach, knocking the wind out of him before he fell to the ground.

He coughed and sputtered as he tried to get back on his feet. He was okay, he took harder hits than this; compared to getting punched in the gut by Chibodee, this was nothing! But before Domon could even stand up, the stranger had both of his hands around his throat. The enemy lifted him high above his head and began to squeeze, trying to either strangle Domon to death or break his neck...whichever came first.

Domon tried to pry the man's hands off him, but they refused to budge. He tried to kick the stranger in the chest, but he never so much as flinched. Domon's vision started to get blurry. He felt the man's metal claws digging into his skin. He couldn't get air...he couldn't get air, _he couldn't get air!_

In his haze, he heard Rain's voice calling him from far away. He saw his enemy turn to look at her. Using the last of his strength, Domon swung both his feet up and kicked the distracted stranger right in the face. The man was knocked backward and was forced to let him go. Domon fell to the ground, coughing and gasping for air.

He immediately sprang to his feet and leaned on the tree for support. He looked over at Rain. She was now outside the car. No doubt she had heard him fighting, and came out to see what was going on. Since she wasn't aimlessly wandering around, it was safe to say the Dark Gundam hadn't hypnotized her. He turned back to his opponent, who was regaining his balance. What was he going to do about him? This guy was out to kill him, and his normal attacks didn't even put a scratch on him!

Well, he could always try to do the Sekiha Tenkyoken. The problem was he had never done it outside the Burning Gundam before. He had no idea if he could generate enough force like his late master did. There was also the fact that he had to stand still and recite the mantra - something he doubted his opponent would let him do.

Speaking of which, the stranger was on the move again. But this time, he wasn't charging right at him, he was running off back toward the road. Was he retreating? To his horror, Domon realized a second later that this guy wasn't running away.

"RAIN, RUN!" he roared. Thankfully, Rain was already fleeing before he started shouting. However, he knew the stranger could easily catch up with her. He knew what he had to do.

Domon put his palm out in front of him. He tried to focus his ki as fast as he possibly could.

" _School of the Undefeated of the East!_ "

The stranger managed to catch up with Rain. She tried to defend herself with what looked like a tire iron.

" _The Winds of the King!_ "

Unfortunately for her, the man grabbed the tire iron out of her hands and tossed it into the grass. He then began to advance on her.

" _Full power!_ "

The strange man suddenly froze in place, as if some invisible force was trying to hold him back.

" _Sekiha Tenkyo..._ "

The stranger got a hold of himself and was able to move again. He suddenly realized what Domon was doing and started to run off in the other direction. But Domon was able to hold back his ki long enough to move his palm. And just to be on the safe side, he pointed his arm right in the man's path rather than directly at him.

" _...KEN!_ "

A ghostly image of Domon's King of Hearts crest on a giant palm burst forth from his hand and flew across the clearing. It carved a deep ditch into the ground as it went. The stranger ran right into the massive ki blast and was sent flying. The attack slammed into the trees, felling all but the largest ones. The man crashed into the trunk of a pine that managed to survive the onslaught and fell to the ground on his rear, seemingly unconscious. His hat fell off his head...and his left leg disconnected from his hip! Electricity crackled and sparks shot out of the exposed socket.

Breathing heavily, Domon stared in disbelief at his handiwork. "I...I did it...!" he mumbled as he lowered his arm. He had actually managed to use the Sekiha Tenkyoken without the Burning Gundam! There was a lot less fire without it, but since he was in the middle of a forest, that wasn't a bad thing.

But there were more important things to think about. "Rain! Are you okay?!" he shouted, turning back to the road.

"I'm fine!" Rain shouted back as she picked up the tire iron. "A better question is, are _you_ okay? That guy had you by the neck!"

"I'll be okay, I've been through worse," Domon reassured her. He then turned to the fallen machine man, who was still unmoving. "Now let's see who this guy really is!"

He marched right up to the mystery man to determine just who he was and what he was. Once he got a glimpse of the guy's face, he took a step back in surprise. Was that...who he thought it was? No, it couldn't be...that guy was _dead!_ It had to be a trick of the bad lighting out here. He was going to have to take off this guy's overcoat to get a better look at him.

But before Domon could bend down to remove the coat, the stranger's eyes began to glow red. Thin green cables shot out of his hip socket and reattached his severed leg. He grabbed his hat as he began to stand back up. Domon jumped back and took a defensive stance, fully expecting this guy to start fighting again. Fortunately, he didn't. Instead, the man jumped high into the air and disappeared.

* * *

 _You were correct, Rain Mikamura. That person was actually an android made out of DG Cells,_ the Dark Gundam told Rain.

"Is that why you were able to stop him for a second?"

When Rain had been cornered by the stranger, the Dark Gundam's avatar had materialized directly behind him. It shoved its holographic hands into his back, and his entire body locked up for a few seconds. However, he had managed to regain control and attempted to run away, only to be hit by Domon's attack anyway.

 _Correct. Their cells were damaged, and I could not take complete control of them. The errors I received when I tried to connect with them were the same ones as the damaged DG Cells on the drones we fought. It is more than likely that this person was connected to the drone attack, if not the one who hijacked those mobile suits._

Which, in turn, meant this guy was probably responsible for the Dark Gundam capturing her a second time. Rain shivered as she looked out into the grassy field. A second ago, the stranger had suddenly got back on his feet after seemingly being knocked out. Instead of continuing the fight, however, he escaped by leaping into the air and jumping over the tops of trees. Domon immediately chased after him into the forest. He still wasn't back yet.

"So when he attacked that cargo ship, he was trying to free you?" she asked her silver twin.

 _It is very likely,_ it replied. _It is also likely that they wanted to repair themselves with newer, functional DG Cells. I do not have enough information to be certain about their motives._

Rain sighed as she turned her attention back to the field. Still no sign of Domon. She thought how the stalker fled by high-jumping away. His agility and his cloaked, DG Cell infested body really reminded her of Schwartz. It started to make her a little worried about the strange man's true identity. But no, that would be impossible; Schwartz was definitely dead. But Kyoji on the other hand...

"About Kyoji...what is he?" Rain asked. "And did you do anything to him?"

 _The entity referring to itself as Kyoji Kasshu is an interesting case,_ the Dark Gundam began. _It is actually a-_

"He got away!"

Rain looked up to see Domon trudging through the grass back to her. He was trying to brush leaves and twigs out of his hair and clothes.

"I didn't even get to see where he went," he continued. "He was way too fast!"

"Well, whatever the case, let's get outta here before he shows back up," Rain replied. "I know you don't like me saying this, but you're in no shape to keep fighting - not after he nearly snapped your neck!

"Oh please, Rain!" Domon scoffed. "I know you're a doctor, but I can handle myself! I wasn't in any-!"

Rain reached up and very gently touched Domon's neck. He hissed in pain, and let out a, "What was that for?!" Rain felt a slight wave of amusement coming from her mental connection to the Dark Gundam at the sight of his agony. She tried to ignore it.

"You've already got a nasty bruise there," she explained. "And just to be on the safe side, we should get some x-rays of your neck later to make sure he didn't crack any vertebrae."

"Oh, fine! Let's go," Domon sighed in frustration. "I just wish I could have finished him off when I had the chance. I know he'll be back, and who knows what he'll try next time!"

"Let's worry about that later," she said. "Anyway, let me do one more thing before we leave."

As Domon walked back to the car while trying to hide a limp, Rain turned to her metal copy.

"We're leaving now, so we need to disconnect," she told it sternly.

 _Before you go, have you given any thought as to my offer?_ it asked.

"I was a little too busy dealing with our stalker just now!" Rain groaned while rubbing her face. "Look, it's a big decision, and I can't think clearly after what just happened!"

 _I see. You need some more time to think it over, the avatar nodded. In that case, I will leave the offer open to you. You know how to reconnect now, so you may tell me your decision when you are ready. Or if something unforeseen were to happen._

"Like...?"

 _I agree with Domon Kasshu for once. I calculate an 87.7% chance that tonight's assailant will make another attempt on his life. And if that person is successful next time, what would happen to you?_

"What?!" Rain's eyes widened and her jaw went slack. "N-no! Domon wouldn't lose to someone like him...!"

Honestly, Rain had gotten so used to Domon having close calls and getting out of tight scrapes that she no longer entertained the idea of him getting seriously hurt, let alone killed. She knew he wasn't invincible, but the thought of him dying almost seemed absurd. Yet only a few minutes ago, somebody nearly strangled him to death. What would she have done if the stranger succeeded?

Perhaps the Dark Gundam could sense her doubt, because its avatar smirked at her and nodded. _In case you ever need me for something, you may contact me at any time. For now, good night._ The doppelganger bowed before disappearing. Rain felt her body become warm again.

She ran to the car as she tried to get the unpleasant image out of her head. As she got to the door, she noticed that the silver sea illusion had disappeared along with the Dark Gundam's avatar. Domon was already in the passenger's seat, waiting for her and continuing to pretend he wasn't actually in pain. Rain jumped in the driver's seat, started the engine, and drove in the opposite direction that the stranger went. Looks like they were going to have to stay at a hotel again tonight.

They rode around in silence for a little while before Domon finally asked, "So, did the Dark Gundam know that guy?"

"No, it didn't," Rain answered. "He's a rogue android. So why he has a problem with us is anyone's guess."

"You actually believe what it said?"

"Kind of. The Dark Gundam showed me its network, and I was the only one on it. It also tried to take control of the man when he attacked me. He froze up for second before he broke free."

Domon shifted uncomfortably. She couldn't tell if it because of pain, or something else.

"It said that his DG Cells were damaged, and it couldn't connect," Rain continued, "and that it was the same error it got from the DG Cells on those stolen Busshi. So whoever this guy is, he's probably connected to the attack on the Dark Gundam's cargo ship. He might even be the one who orchestrated the whole thing!"

"Maybe. The guy is definitely smarter than a regular DG Cell zombie." Domon's voice seemed to trail off.

"Yes, and he downloaded something to make himself smarter," Rain said. "The Dark Gundam said that with the way he was predicting your attacks, he might have been using a program called the 'ZERO System.'"

"The ZERO System?" Domon sat up. "I think I've heard of that!"

"You have?"

"Yeah...I think my father said something about it before a long time ago. It was supposed to make mobile suit pilots and Gundam Fighters practically psychic! But then he never mentioned it again, and I pretty much forgot about it. That thing was real?"

"I guess so. The Dark Gundam said it made its test pilots go insane, so they scrapped it. The human brain couldn't handle it. But now that DG Cells exist, and can replace a person's brain tissue with nanotech..."

"...It could actually work this time!" Domon buried his face in his palm and grumbled angrily about fighting psychic cyborgs and what could possibly be next.

Rain decided to change the subject. "Speaking of that strange man, did you ever get to see what he looked like?"

Domon shifted again. "No, not really," he said. "It was too dark to get a good look at him. And he never said anything, so I never got to hear his voice."

"Oh, that's a shame," Rain said. "Well, whoever he was, I hope his DG Cells are damaged enough so that he stops functioning, and we never have to deal with him again!"

"Yeah, I wish," Domon said glumly. "I wouldn't bet on it, though."

As they stopped at a traffic light, it was his turn to change the subject. "Did the Dark Gundam say anything else?"

"Well, yes...it did," Rain sighed glumly. "It told me it wants me to be its pilot."

"We already know that," Domon snorted. "It's used you as its life unit twice already!"

"No, it's a bit different than last time," Rain replied. "I think it wants me to directly control it during battles, or something. It said it wanted me to make it stronger."

"Make it stronger...that's the last thing we need," the young King of Hearts rolled his eyes. "But what does that mean? Does it want you to become its Gundam Fighter, or something?"

"I don't know. I have no idea what's going on in that processor of its," Rain muttered.

"Not like it matters, anyway. It's stuck inside a military base," Domon shrugged. "Hopefully they'll get rid of it, and we'll never have to worry about it again."

"Yeah, I hope so." Rain decided leave out the part about the Dark Gundam's "compromise" proposal. There was really no point in getting Domon upset about something that would probably never happen. Besides, she wasn't sure what to think of it herself.

* * *

Once they found themselves a new hotel to stay at, Rain immediately tended to Domon's wounds. The stranger had left two large hand-shaped bruises around the Gundam Fighter's throat as well as deep gashes from where his metal nails dug into his skin. Rain also found a few tiny red spots in Domon's eyes.

She sat him down in a chair and order him to keep his head as still as possible. She then took out her syringe of anti-nanomachine resin from her pocket and mixed small amounts of it with saline from her first aid kit. She applied some of the mixture to the gashes on Domon's neck. It itched, but he was told not to scratch. After that, Rain took out a clean syringe and injected some of the mixture into his arm. This was just in case any of the stranger's DG Cells made their way into his blood stream. Afterward, she placed some cold packs on his bruises. She told him that if he felt sick, or had any difficulty swallowing or breathing, he needed to let her know immediately. He was glad she didn't have a neck brace handy; otherwise he'd be in one!

Rain also told him that they would have to contact his father again, and let him know about their latest encounter with the rogue infectee. She was also seriously thinking about contacting the local police, now that they knew their stalker was hostile and violent. Domon felt incredibly embarrassed. Yes, his opponent had multiple unfair advantages including being a machine and having a program installed that let him predict the immediate future. Yes, Domon learned to use his greatest technique outside of his Gundam and ultimately _won_ the fight. It didn't matter; he still felt ashamed that the stranger was able to get a few nasty cheapshots in. Then again, he always felt that way when an opponent roughed him up. As the King of Hearts, he felt like he should be nigh invincible, like his late master was. That was impossible of course, but his pride refused to let him feel differently. He still allowed Rain to continue poking and prodding at him, however. He was just glad she was alright; the mystery man didn't lay a finger on her, and she hadn't been hypnotized by the Dark Gundam.

He felt a little nauseous when he thought about the latter. If he understood Rain's story correctly, the Dark Gundam was the reason the stranger froze in his tracks. Not only did it end up stopping him from attacking Rain, it also bought Domon enough time to finish his mantra. The thought of being indebted to the Dark Gundam of all things _sickened_ him. He reassured himself that it only defended Rain because it wanted her in its cockpit, and stalling the mysterious stalker long enough was just a coincidence. Nothing more, nothing less.

And as for that stranger, well...Domon really hoped it wasn't who he thought it was. Granted, it was pretty dark, and he could have easily been mistaken. But if he was right, that meant one of his worst enemies just came back from the dead.

He decided not to tell Rain about it for now. No need to get her upset when he didn't even know the man's identity for certain. Still, he was going to have to watch his back from now on.

* * *

Elsewhere, the stranger slowly staggered into the large cavern where he was hiding his pilfered mobile suits. He leaned up against the leg of a random Busshi as he fought off the errors that were bombarding his CPU. With unsteady hands, he slowly scaled the giant mech, digging his claws into its armor to keep from falling to the floor. After several minutes, he made it into the Busshi's cockpit. Here, he unplugged some wires from the console and shoved them into his body. The power surge aided his broken cells in repairing the damage done by tonight's battle.

He stared into space, frustrated. He almost had the Gundam Fighter right where he wanted him. He was about to take his girlfriend hostage when a certain invisible presence stopped him. A presence he knew all too well. The Dark Gundam tried to establish a connection directly to his mind again. It didn't make a lasting connection, but he could still hear it ordering him not to harm Rain. How did it even know he was there? Was it the girl? Did it still have a connection to her? Whatever the case was, it delayed him long enough to cost him the fight. There was a lot of irony in the Dark Gundam accidentally helping Domon Kasshu, but he was too aggravated to think about it now.

He mused over what to do next. Obviously, he wasn't in good enough shape to challenge Domon directly, even with the ZERO System to guide him. He considered finding out where the Gundam Fighter lived and having a drone blow up the building. Then again, where would he have the drone lie in wait without being noticed? And then there was the fact that if Domon survived and escaped, he'd have that infernal Burning Gundam breathing down his neck. Even with their ZERO System upgrade, he didn't think his squadron would stand a chance against it.

Well, maybe it _was_ possible to take on the Burning Gundam and win. He just needed the right strategy...and a much better mobile suit!


	9. The Experimental Gundam

**Disclaimer:** _Mobile Fighter G Gundam_ is owned by Bandai and Sunrise. I just write about it in my spare time.

 **Author's Note:** Many thanks to ALittleSalty1 for all the help!

 **On the Dark Side**  
 **Chapter 9: Ambush! The Experimental Gundam!**

Dr. Kasshu groggily stared at the screen in front of him. He read it over the data a dozen times, but he still didn't remember what it said. As he struggled to read through it again, his eyes slowly closed. Minutes later, he woke up when his head bobbed forward. He had lost count of how many times he dozed off.

"You gonna be okay, doctor?" Ken suddenly asked him. Damn, was it that obvious?

"I'll be alright, Ken," the exhausted Dr. Kasshu mumbled a reply. "Don't worry about me."

In reality, he was having trouble sleeping of late, and last night was particularly rough. He had had a horrible dream in which everything on Earth had been devoured by a liquid metal made of DG Cells - the buildings, the plants, the animals, the people, everything except for him. Then the Dark Gundam appeared, towering over him. It taunted him with Major Ulube's words: the future belonged to DG Cells, the ultimate form of life. Even though the Dark Colony had been defeated, the cells had been spread throughout the solar system due to the battle. They had infected countless mobile suits, spaceships, and people. It was only a matter of time before they all succumbed to their infections. Unless he was able to create enough anti-nanomachine resin to destroy all technology from the Earth to Jupiter, he'd never be able to permanently eradicate the cells. If he had a problem with that, then he shouldn't have invented them in the first place! The Gundam then melted into a massive wave of silver, which crashed down on him and tried to smother him. He woke up, and found himself having difficulty breathing. He was never able to go back to sleep after that.

Oddly enough, the real Dark Gundam was behaving itself today. So far, it hadn't growled nor glared at them. It didn't send them any threatening messages. Its optics were turned off, and it was mostly motionless - only the occasional shifting of its weight told him it was still online.

He gazed blankly at the screen again. He had discovered something interesting in the Dark Gundam's CPU the other day. Ever since it came back online a few months ago, it had been trying to contact its core life unit - that is to say, Rain. And every time it did, an unknown program would interfere and stop the signal. It was almost as if the Gundam had downloaded a virus!

However, thanks to the machine's self-evolution ability, it eventually found a way to work around the "virus." It was able to briefly make contact with Rain a few times before the program was able to disconnect it. When tried to connect again hours later, it finally was able to make a lasting connection with Rain by somehow shutting down the virus. This happened on the day the hijacked mobile suits shot down the cargo ship carrying the Gundam, and it temporarily escaped.

The fact that it could "connect" to Rain disturbed him. How was it connecting to her? Was she secretly infected with DG Cells the whole time? When she was released from the hospital after the incident, he was told she had a clean bill of health. Maybe she was infected before, and was cured now? Maybe he was being paranoid due to lack of sleep, and it wasn't even communicating with her using DG Cells?

However it managed to connect with her, it did it two more times after it was recaptured. The first was on the night of the incident - that time it became very active in the wee hours of the morning, but refused to let him see what it was doing. It connected with Rain for about fifteen minutes, with the virus trying to sabotage it the whole time. Eventually, the connection was severed by Rain herself.

The second connection was...last night? He had to read that over a few times to make sure his sleep deprived brain wasn't hallucinating that. Last night it made a connection for over twenty minutes right around midnight. The virus did not interfere this time; in fact, it seemed to be gone. Maybe it had been deleted? Even stranger, the Dark Gundam disconnected itself this time.

Dr. Kasshu looked blearily at a few folders that might contain additional information. He had a feeling he knew what was going to happen, but he needed to try anyway. He slowly moved his mouse over to the folder and tried to open it. Sure enough, he got an error. And sure enough, the heretofore quiet Dark Gundam started growling at them.

"Uh-oh! I don't think it liked that!" Ken cried. Thankfully, the young lab assistant was starting to get used to the machine's bad attitude. He flinched, but didn't jump out of his seat this time.

The doctor, on the other hand, was way too tired to put up with its nonsense. He spun around in his chair and gave the snarling machine the sternest look he could manage through bloodshot eyes. He wasn't trembling at all this time.

"You realize I'm the only person in the solar system that doesn't want to see you destroyed, right?" he scolded it.

The Gundam stopped growling at him, but kept glaring.

"I'm sure you're smart enough now to understand what dismantling is, and don't want it done to you," Dr. Kasshu continued. "The truth is I don't either. You're my life's work - I don't want to see all those years of research go down the drain! I can help you. I can try to find a way to make sure they don't destroy you! But you need to stop being so hostile. Do you understand?"

The Dark Gundam continued to stare at him for a few moments. Then it looked away, letting out an indignant snort through its vents.

* * *

Several weeks passed. After quite a bit of prodding by Rain, Domon had x-rays taken of his neck. Thankfully, none of his vertebrae nor his hyoid bone had been broken by the stranger's attempt to strangle him. He was probably going to be bruised for awhile, though.

As for Rain, she never received any more messages from the Dark Gundam, be they texts or hallucinations. She was free of long nightmares and chills running down her spine. The only downside is that she no longer saw Kyoji anymore. She never did get to find out about what he was and what happened to him since the Dark Gundam didn't get to finish its explanation. Wherever he was, she hoped he was okay.

The stranger was nowhere to be seen. They never saw any mysterious people following them around when they went out, or hanging around their apartment building. Nevertheless, Domon had been on high alert ever since. He was always looking over his shoulder, peering out windows, and insisting on going everywhere with Rain, even if she was just going down the block for coffee. She had a feeling he was going to be like this for awhile...not that she blamed him for it.

There was one thing that made her nervous, however. She had been watching TV one day when a breaking news story suddenly interrupted her game show. A Neo Japanese military base had been broken into, this time one on Earth. Not many details were given due to government secrecy, but it did say a Gundam had been stolen. It was highly suspected that the previous mobile suit hijackers were to blame. Rain became instantly worried that their stalker was involved. Was he going to come after them in a Gundam now? Well, at least Domon still had access to the Burning Gundam for the time being. If he challenged them, Domon could easily beat him.

...Right? She was reminded of what the Dark Gundam had said to her: what would she do if something happened to Domon? What if someone killed him? She still didn't want to think about that. She reminded herself that the Dark Gundam only said that to try to scare her into piloting it. Even if tragedy were to strike, there was no way she would willingly crawl into its cockpit.

Besides that little incident, it seemed like life was starting to get back to normal. One seemingly average morning, Domon asked Rain if she could help with some spur-of-the-moment maintenance on the Burning Gundam. With nothing else to do, she agreed. Hours later, the two of them drove down to the abandoned warehouse where Domon was currently hiding his Gundam. The place was huge; there was easily enough room for a large mobile suit to stand up in it. The main dock was big enough for a space-faring cargo ship to enter. She thought she heard that this building was used to store steel about ten years ago.

They got to work, with Domon hopping inside his Gundam and suiting up, while Rain remained outside and began readying the equipment. For about an hour, they performed routine maintenance on the Burning Gundam, and then did a battery of diagnostic tests. Everything seemed to be running just fine.

Once they were finished, Domon made the Burning Gundam crouch down on one bent knee. He then opened its chest plates and peered out, still in his black latex fightsuit. "So how's everything look, Rain?"

"Well, it passed all the tests," she answered. "It should be good to go."

"Good to hear."

"So...what's the story, Domon? How come the Burning Gundam needed maintenance on such short notice? Do you need to use it, or...?"

"No, nothing like that," he explained. "I got an email from Chibodee the other day. Said the Gundam Maxter was never the same after the battle with the Dark Colony. Says it's sluggish and sometimes unresponsive. His crew claimed that sometimes it would start twitching on its own. Just wanted to make sure the Burning Gundam was alright."

"Wow, that doesn't sound good!" Rain replied. "Sounds like he's got a system-wide short circuit!"

She paused when she heard a loud noise outside. It sounded like the grinding of gears, followed by something huge hitting the ground. Since there were still active businesses around here, she assumed it was just probably some construction equipment shifting around or a cargo vehicle unloading.

"Anyway, you don't need to worry about the Burning Gundam," she told Domon. "It's running perfectly fine."

"That's great," he replied. "Hey, after I get the fightsuit off, you wanna go out for lunch?"

"Sure," Rain said with a smile. "That would be lov-"

In a bright flash of light, most of the building was suddenly ripped away by a giant beam. Rain felt the heat of the beam singe her skin, and the roar nearly ruptured her eardrums. The force of the blast knocked her off her feet, and she landed on her side. Domon had braced himself in the frame of the cockpit's entrance, but the shock nearly caused him to fall out. Thinking quickly, he jumped down from the Burning Gundam's cockpit, grabbed Rain, and then jumped right back into the cockpit with her. He then closed its chest, and made his Gundam punch right through the crumbling roof of the collapsing warehouse.

"Rain! Are you okay?!" he cried, once they made it to safety. He was still holding her up, as she was unsteady on her feet.

Rain was somewhat in a daze, as everything had happened so quickly. Her ears were ringing from the explosion, so Domon's voice sounded muffled. The shoulder she landed on ached. "I think so," she said. "What happened?"

"It looked like someone fired a beam cannon at us," he answered.

The two of them searched the panoramic screens, trying to find the source of the blast. It wasn't hard; all they had to do was follow the line of burnt trees and scorched buildings up to a glint of blue metal. Rain was about to point it out, but then the metallic glint stood up on its own. It revealed itself to be a Busshi with its weapon drawn and pointed right at them.

Domon carefully placed Rain outside the mobile trace rings. "Might wanna hang on to something!" he told her. "I don't think that guy is done with us yet!"

Fortunately for them, it apparently was. Just as Domon prepared himself to dodge another shot, the Busshi holstered its weapon and flew away.

"W-what the-? Just where do you think _you're_ going?!" the Gundam Fighter shouted as the offending mobile suit escaped. "Get back here and fight like a man!"

"I wonder if it's our 'friend' from earlier?" Rain asked.

"If it is, good!" Domon remarked. "It means I'll get to take care of him for good this time!"

"Domon, you're not seriously thinking about-" Rain started to say before she suddenly felt the floor drop as the Burning Gundam descended.

Domon landed it on the ground and opened the cockpit. He let Rain jump out, but he stayed inside.

"I'm going after him," he announced. "I can't let him get away with what he just did! Find somewhere safe, and I'll let you know when I'm done with him!"

"Wait, Domon!" Rain tried to say as the cockpit closed. She quickly backed away and shielded her face with her arms as the Burning Gundam stood back up and took off after the fleeing Busshi.

She rubbed her face and sighed. Impulsiveness, thy name was Domon Kasshu. Well, she wasn't going to let him run straight into trouble. She didn't have her wrist communicator on her to track the Burning Gundam, but she could still try to follow them.

She ran around the ruined building to the parking lot, glancing over her shoulders to make sure that there were no other suspicious mobile suits hiding among the buildings. When she reached her car, she found that it had not made it through the attack entirely unscathed; a few small chunks of concrete had landed on its hood, denting it badly and putting a big crack in her windshield. She cleared off the rubble as quickly as she could before getting in and starting the car. Fortunately for her, the engine had not been damaged, and it hummed to life. Rain zoomed out of the parking lot and sped off in the general direction that the two mobile suits flew off in.

* * *

Domon fumed as the Burning Gundam flew past the city limits and out into the surrounding wastelands. Whoever was behind this was going to pay. Trying to kill him was one thing; he had lots of guys try to kill him in the past year. But trying to kill Rain too? That was unforgivable. If that mysterious stranger was involved, Domon was going to personally make sure he didn't get away this time.

Moments later, a dark blur appeared onscreen. It was hovering in the sky and far off in the distance. Domon picked up speed to get a better look at it. As he closed in, the blurry shape became a single dark blue mobile suit. A Busshi.

Domon turned on his louspeakers. "Hey, you! What's the big idea trying to kill me and Rain like that, huh?!" he screamed at the fleeing machine.

It didn't answer.

"Oh, more silent treatment?!" the Gundam Fighter continued to yell at it. "You're that guy from before, aren't you?!"

No response.

Domon opened fire with his vulcan guns to try and force the Busshi to land. Unfortunately, it somehow managed to dodge all of his shots. Strangely enough, it didn't turn around to fire back. Whatever, he wasn't interested in why suddenly refusing to fight. He whipped out his beam saber and tried to fly in close. If bullets didn't work, maybe an Erupting Burning Slash would!

Just as he was beginning to concentrate his energy into his saber, his screens suddenly filled with light. He was violently tossed around his cockpit as the Burning Gundam was hit from all sides by beams. The side of his mobile trace system hit him right in the gut and knocked the wind out of him as his Gundam took a nosedive and crashed to the ground.

He groaned as he slowly picked himself up. He told himself that he'd be okay - he'd taken harder hits before. He looked up to see himself surrounded by about a dozen Busshi who were coming out from behind large rocks or slopes. They were all pointing their guns at him. The one he had been chasing landed nearby and also took aim at him. Were these the hijacked mobile suits from a few months ago? Perhaps. Right now, he didn't care where they came from; their pilots were itching for a fight, and he was going to give it to them.

He made the Burning Gundam stand up and holster its weapon. He watched his opponents carefully, waiting for just the right moment. Just as they were pulling the triggers on their rifles, he jumped straight up in hopes that the Busshi would end up shooting each other. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. He found himself being thrown around like a pinball as another barrage of beam fire hit him from all directions.

He crashed to the ground again. How did they know? Did he somehow jump too soon? Wait...could they be equipped with the ZERO System? If his mysterious stalker really was involved with the hijacking, it was possible. It would certainly explain their great dodging skills and accuracy.

Domon stood back up. He already knew that the ZERO System wasn't perfect. The key to defeating someone using it was to fake them out. And he had just the perfect move to confuse his opponents. He had only used it once against Chibodee in the Gundam Fight finals, but he could still remember how to do it.

His cockpit was flooded with a golden light as he calmed his mind and concentrated. The Burning Gundam's wings opened up, a circular rainbow appearing between them.

" **BURNING SHADOWS!** " Domon roared as ten identical images of his Gundam suddenly materialized on the field.

At first it seemed to be working. All of the Busshi stood still, their optics panning back and forth over the new Gundams. But before Domon could make a move, they opened fire again. Every single beam struck the real Burning Gundam, and its shadows quickly evaporated.

The young Gundam Fighter was able to brace himself against his mobile tracer, which prevented him from being bounced around by the latest onslaught. He tried to fly his Gundam out of harm's way, but he kept flying straight into more beams; the Busshi were firing directly into his path. He tried veering around randomly in order to trip them up, but for every missed shot there were two direct hits. One lucky shot managed to rip off one of his wings.

What was he going to do? At this rate, the Burning Gundam was going to be the one getting roasted for once! But then, by some miracle, the beams began to miss him entirely. Domon looked at his screens to find the ground below trembling. At first he thought his cameras were just glitching from all the damage, but then he heard the omnipresent low rumbling. He watched as the Busshi lost their footing and even fell to the ground.

He smirked. He never thought he'd find himself glad to see an earthquake. He found it ironic that the revolutionary software that allowed his enemies to predict all his moves couldn't predict a tremor in a highly seismic country. No wonder it was scrapped!

His opponents were now in complete disarray; they were either struggling to get back on their feet, or trying not to fall down again. It was the perfect time to strike, and he had to really make his next move count. Once again, he decided to use something from the Gundam Fight finals. He hadn't done it in midair before, but if it worked, he might be able to take out all of the Busshi at once.

He unsheathed his beam saber again. He concentrated his energy into it, which caused the beam to grow and fan out.

" **BURNING SLASH TYPHOON!** " Domon shouted as he began to spin in place. The Burning Gundam whirled with him, kicking up high winds as it spun faster and faster. Any Busshi that were able to stand up were now plastered to the still shaking ground.

"...And now, **HEAT END!** "

A wave of energy burst from the Burning Gundam in all directions. The Busshi were fried both inside and out, causing many of them to explode.

Moments later, Domon stopped his spinning. Once the dizziness wore off, he took a quick survey of the battlefield. All of his opponents lay scattered around in unmoving burnt heaps. Many of them were in pieces, and some of them had fires burning in their wrecked chassis. Meanwhile, the ground, rocks, and trees had all stopped shaking and the rumbles had ceased.

Since it seemed safe enough to come down, Domon landed his Gundam back on the ground. He noticed a distinct lack of pilots climbing out or ejecting from the ruined mobile suits. He stepped up to a Busshi that had its cockpit torn open. No one was inside. Were they all drones?

If they were, that meant that someone out there had to be controlling them. Domon had a good feeling that person was nearby; he was getting that same feeling of unease he had back when he took Fuunsaiki out for a ride and discovered that he had a stalker.

"I know you're out there!" he yelled through his loudspeakers.

His voice echoed around the sparse trees, cliffs, and high crags. Seconds passed, but nothing happened.

"There's no point in hiding!" Domon yelled again. "Come on out...ULUBE!"

In reality, he wasn't completely sure if Major Ulube was the culprit. When he unmasked that mysterious stranger, he saw a man with long hair that looked to be about ten years older than him. Ulube was the first person he thought of. He later remembered that there were other people he knew with similar features, but Ulube still made the most sense. He would know the Neo Japanese military bases inside and out, and therefore he would know how to successfully break into them. He knew how to keep quiet about his plans, and smart enough not to give himself away. And most importantly, he had been completely infested by DG Cells, meaning he probably regenerated when the Dark Gundam came back online.

As Domon was about to search the area for his foe, something yanked the Burning Gundam backwards. Someone had just bear hugged him from behind, their arms underneath his armpits. At first he thought that a Busshi had survived, but a quick glance over his shoulder revealed his new assailant to be another Gundam. It didn't look at all familiar.

"Let go of me!" the Gundam Fighter barked at it.

The pilot, if there was a pilot, said nothing. The mysterious Gundam carefully moved one of its hands over to the Burning Gundam's neck, and started feeling around the various wires and pistons. He assumed the person was trying to remove his head unit. Did nobody tell this guy that rule was only valid during a Gundam Fight? It didn't matter; the mystery fighter had loosened his grip and distracted himself. Domon could now pull his one arm free and-

The cockpit was suddenly plunged into darkness. Domon even heard the Burning Gundam's engine power down. He then felt his mobile suit begin to tilt backward. He tried to hold on to his mobile tracer as it fell over, but he lost his grip and fell out on the way down. He was slammed against a wall as the Burning Gundam landed flat on its back.

Domon's head was swimming as he struggled to sit up. One of his legs hurt like hell. The only light in the cockpit came from sparks that periodically flew out of his control systems, but it was enough for him to find the mobile tracer's bars. He grabbed onto it and tried to lift himself up, but his sore leg went out from under him with a sickening crack. He fell back down again.

It was then that his opponent finally spoke.

"So you already figured me out, did you Domon?" he heard Ulube's voice say. "Tell me, was I that obvious?"

* * *

This can't be happening. That's what Rain thought to herself as she saw the Burning Gundam fall to the ground, lifeless.

She had parked her car on the shoulder of a quiet, two-lane road that was about a half kilometer away from the battlefield. It was up on a moderately-high cliff, giving her a good view. Unfortunately, she didn't like what she saw.

She had worked very hard to follow Domon and that Busshi by car, tracking them by sight alone. She had been forced to stop when a sudden earthquake hit, delaying her for a few minutes. When she finally caught up with them, she found a rather burnt-up looking Burning Gundam surrounded by many scrapped Busshi. First, she was glad to see that Domon was okay. Next, she wondered if those Busshi were the stolen ones from a few months ago. Finally, she grumbled to herself about how the heck she was going to fix that Gundam now. One of its wings was even torn off!

Her aggravation subsided when she heard Domon yelling over his loudspeakers, accusing Major Ulube of being behind the attack. She became greatly confused. Ulube was dead; thanks to the Dark Gundam sharing its information with her, she could remember his completely-mechanized body disintegrating. Was Domon getting paranoid?

That's when the other Gundam jumped out from behind a large, craggy rock formation and grabbed Domon from behind. It was a very plain-looking mobile suit; it didn't even have a paint job except for blue and gold armor on its lower arms. She recognized it as an experimental Gundam, used to test new weapons and armor before they were applied to official mobile suits. She wasn't sure what it did or how, but a second later, the Burning Gundam went completely limp in its arms. She found herself calling Domon's name as she watched him topple over.

The test Gundam triumphantly placed a foot on the Burning Gundam's chest. Rain felt nauseated and had to lean against her car when she heard Major Ulube's voice come over the loudspeakers. Domon was right; he _was_ the one who attacked them. It was probably safe to say he was the one who hijacked those Busshi, as well as the strange man who had been stalking them. But how had he survived? She then realized that if the Dark Gundam could recover after seemingly being destroyed, so could Ulube.

She watched helplessly as the plain, steel grey Gundam took out a beam saber and began to cut open the Burning Gundam's chest plates. No doubt Ulube was trying to open the cockpit so he could grab Domon and squash him. She couldn't just stand there and watch, she had to do something! But what? She could call the police, but they probably wouldn't make it on time. They were out in the middle of nowhere. And even if they came, would they be able to fight off a Gundam? Here on Earth, the police forces didn't have access to the most recent technology. Some didn't even have their own mobile suits.

She felt a chill as her mind raced, desperately trying to think of something - anything - she could do. A suddenly darkening sky distracted her from the situation. She looked up, confused. It was the middle of the afternoon, and there wasn't a single cloud in the sky.

The gloom continued to grow until she could no longer see the two Gundams in front of her. Eventually, the darkness blotted out everything around her. Her entire body grew cold. A new wave of dread swept over her when she realized what was happening. But how was it even possible...?

Rain felt a sharp sting on her shoulder. She turned to find her green-eyed silver copy smiling at her with its hand on her arm. The silver lake was right behind it, lapping up against her car and rolling across the road.

 _Good afternoon, Rain Mikamura,_ the Dark Gundam's avatar greeted her. _I know you told me not to contact you, but I have important news. I have escaped my prison and am headed your way. Please remain here, and I will arrive shortly._

Tears came to Rain's eyes. She didn't understand how the evil machine even got loose in the first place. Was it the earthquake? How was it even coming for her without a life unit? Did it find a temporary one? She just didn't know. All she knew was that two of her worst nightmares were now happening at the same time. What horrible thing did she do to deserve this?

Then, in desperation, a terrible thought crossed her mind. The Dark Gundam was, well, a _Gundam_. Yes, it had a mind of its own, but it was still a mobile suit all the same. If she were to use it against Ulube, he'd never stand a chance, not even with the ZERO System.

NO! What was she thinking?! She couldn't pilot the Dark Gundam! Last time, it tried to build a new Dark Colony. The only reason it didn't succeed was because she escaped using her anti-nanomachines – which she completely used up weeks ago while cleaning Domon's wounds. Besides, the big devil would _never_ let her defend the Gundam Fighter in question. In fact, it would probably find some way to go back on its word about killing humans and make him its first victim!

...She didn't know it would do any of that. What she did know is that if she didn't do something soon, Ulube would kill Domon. She couldn't see them, but she could hear the screeching of metal as the beam saber continued to rip open the Burning Gundam's cockpit.

No! There had to be a better way! Maybe she could run down there and see if any of those Busshi still functioned, even partially. As long as one of them could fire its beam cannon, she could save Domon.

...Those Busshi were burning piles of slag. Even if she found one intact enough to shoot at Ulube, his ZERO System would allow him to predict and dodge all of her shots. Then he'd kill both of them.

Maybe there was another mobile suit she could find? Didn't Ulube steal a couple of Fantomas, too?

...Yes, but where were they? She didn't have time to go looking around for them, Ulube was about to kill Domon. Even if she did find them, they would probably still be under the Major's control.

But-

... _Domon was_ ** _going to DIE._**

Rain fell to her knees and covered her face. A few sobs escaped her throat. Her doppelganger knelt down beside her.

 _What is wrong?_ it asked. _Is my presence upsetting you?_

She wiped away her tears as she turned to face the avatar. She tried to tell it something, but the words wouldn't come out. After several tries, she finally uttered the most difficult sentence in her life.

"...I need your help."


	10. A Deal with the Devil

**Disclaimer:** _Mobile Fighter G Gundam_ is owned by Bandai and Sunrise. I just write about it in my spare time.

 **Author's Note:** Many thanks to ALittleSalty1 for beta reading this chapter!

 **On the Dark Side**  
 **Chapter 10:** **Tragedy! A Deal with the Devil!**

By the time the earthquake hit, the Dark Gundam had run out of ideas for its escape.

Its major obstacle was the energy barriers surrounding it. Finding a temporary life unit was no problem, as there were humans crawling all over the base at all hours of the day. However, it couldn't do a thing so long as those barriers were up.

It tried various ways to disable the barrier generators. It tried to emit signals to disrupt them, but the barriers never weakened. It tried to hack into them, but couldn't find any access points. When its creator got careless and left his auxiliary facility laptop unguarded, it tried to look through the military's databases for a way to turn them off. While it found some interesting schematics for blast chilling weapons, it could not find a solution to its problem. Days later, its creator quickly got wise to its tricks and stopped bringing in the other laptop. As a last resort, the Gundam would wait until the humans went home before it would reach up and pound against the corners of its cage in an attempt to jostle the generators loose. They refused to budge. Perhaps it was simply too weak without a life unit.

A few days ago, the Dark Gundam began to pick up signs of seismic activity. Interested, it recorded the activity and calculated the potential damage that a resulting earthquake could do to its hangar. Unfortunately, its estimates showed that damage would be minimal at best. It dismissed the possibility of escape via natural disaster for the time being.

Earlier that morning, the Dark Gundam's creator and his lab assistant entered the hangar. The machine stood still as the humans prodded around in its CPU. It used to find some entertainment by intimidating them, but eventually, they began to ignore it. It made the occasional grumble, letting them know that their presence was unwanted.

It tried to find productive ways to pass the time. Rain Mikamura had suggested weeks ago that it should recalculate the effort needed to restore Earth based on its new abilities. In particular, it needed to determine if exterminating humanity was still necessary. It found itself hesitant to do so. The thought of challenging its old calculations induced a mild fear reaction. It didn't understand why; this reaction was irrational. If its calculations were wrong or outdated, they must be corrected. However, the fear response would not cease, so the Gundam decided not to change its protocols for the time being.

While still weighing the risks and benefits of confronting its fear response, the earthquake hit. The hangar shook just enough to cause everything to rattle. The doctor and his assistant took cover under the long desk. The lights flickered before suddenly going out completely. Then the energy barriers dissolved all at once. Seconds passed, but the hangar remained in complete darkness; something must have happened to the backup generators as well. The Dark Gundam was confused at first. According to its best estimates, the chances of a power outage were negligible. Could this be what humans referred to as a "miracle"?

The machine immediately switched its optics to night vision. It found its creator and the lab assistant crawling out from underneath the desk. It opened its chest and sent out its cables to fetch one of them. The lab assistant was not only closer, but he had also tripped and fallen back down on the floor. The cables descended upon him, wrapping themselves around his arms, chest, and legs. They lifted him off the floor and dragged him kicking and screaming into the Dark Gundam's cockpit. It felt most of its strength return as it hooked itself up to him and it wasted no time in re-enabling its three abilities. The assistant was not a satisfactory life unit as Rain Mikamura was, but he would do for now.

The Gundam closed its chest plates and stomped across the hangar to the bay doors. It deployed its second pair of arms and used their palm-mounted beam cannons to blast the doors open. It cautiously stepped outside, preparing itself to battle the hordes of military personnel that would inevitably attempt to recapture it. However, it quickly found that the humans were preoccupied with other things at that moment. They were milling around everywhere, accessing damage, evacuating damaged buildings, accounting for personnel, and tending to the injured. They scattered like confused roaches at the loud boom of the Dark Gundam's grand return to the outside world. Between the gas and water leaks and the general disorder that came with the initial response to a natural disaster, an armed response would be delayed at best. It seemed to have underestimated how much damage the earthquake would cause. Finding a place to dig would not be too difficult.

In spite of all of this, an armed response was inevitable. There was no use dawdling. A few meters away was a sinkhole the size of a jeep. It lumbered up to the hole as fast as it could and prepared to widen it with its beam cannons. However, just as it was charging them up, a pair of Nobusshi swooped in and pointed their feeble weapons at it. It was about to turn its cannons on them first, but then it remembered that Rain Mikamura did not want it to kill any more humans. It shoved the puny mobile suits aside instead and fired its beams down into the hole. Mud and pavement flew everywhere as the machine worked to make the pit large enough for it to fit into.

It wasn't long before more humans arrived. Squadrons of Nobusshi surrounded it and opened fire. The Gundam ignored most of their useless attacks, keeping its focus on the sinkhole. When their rifle fire began to grind on its nerves, it would turn and fire its vulcan guns to scatter them. Some brave souls tried to grab onto the Dark Gundam itself, each one latching onto one of its main arms. It paused its beam cannons for a moment so it could send them all flying with a flick of its wrists. Before it could get back to work, however, a helicopter hovered overhead and dropped a large energy net on its head.

The Dark Gundam's patience with the Nobusshi was quickly running thin. It considered using the self-defense clause to justify killing humans as they continued their attempts at recapture. Then, the ground suddenly collapsed underneath them all. The humans panicked as they tried to escape the quicksand in their Nobusshi.

Meanwhile, the Dark Gundam yanked the net off of its head, switched to mobile armor mode, and tunneled even deeper into the soft earth. It then dug its way out of the military base and into the surrounding countryside. The incredibly wet ground made the journey much swifter and easier. It had not factored soil liquefaction into its earlier calculations. It may have even been the cause of the extended power outage, if one or more of the electric generators fell over or sank into a hole.

As it continued to put some distance between itself and the base, the Gundam ensured to encrypt its signals. There was no doubt the humans were already in pursuit, and minimizing its chances of being detected would buy it time. Besides, there were more important matters at hand.

Its target's signature immediately appeared on its network. Interestingly enough, it was only a few kilometers away. But visiting Rain Mikamura on such short notice may upset her. She may even get angry. Perhaps it should give her advanced notice.

* * *

"...I need your help."

 _You do?_ The avatar's eyes widened slightly, in what was supposed to be surprise. _Am I correct in assuming that something has happened to Domon Kasshu?_

"Yes...," Rain stopped to wipe her tears away and clear her throat. "It's Ulube...he's back somehow. He was the one who was stalking us before. Now he's shut down the Burning Gundam, and he's about to kill Domon!" She felt herself start to get choked up again. "He's in a Gundam, but I don't have a mobile suit. My friends...they'd never make it in time. I don't know what else to do..."

 _Understood,_ the Dark Gundam replied. _Major Ulube Ishikawa's cells must have come in contact with a strong enough power source to regenerate his body. Strangely enough, I am still not able to find him on my network. If I could, I would directly command him to stop./i Its avatar nodded. iIn that case, I will help rescue your romantic partner if you wish._

"You...you will?" Rain asked. "You'd actually help me save Domon?"

 _I am not enthusiastic about rescuing Domon Kasshu,_ the silver twin closed its eyes and grimaced slightly. _But if I am to be your partner, I must protect those who are important to you, correct?_

Rain felt herself shudder when the doppelganger said "your partner."

She quickly reminded herself that she didn't have time to hesitate, "Correct!"

The avatar nodded back and smiled. _Besides, Major Ulube Ishikawa has become a rogue unit. I must bring him back under control._

The ever present darkness suddenly faded away, as did the sea of silver. Once again, Rain could see the prototype Gundam standing over the fallen Burning Gundam. The former looked like it was almost finished cutting open the latter's chest plates.

 _My physical body will be arriving momentarily,_ The Dark Gundam explained. _In order not to attract unwanted attention, I will emerge on the other side of that ledge over there._ It turned around and pointed to a steep, high, rocky hill behind them.

"Alright, give me a minute," Rain sighed. She slipped back into her car and stripped down to her bra, underwear, and shoes. She even removed her earrings and hair band. No way was she going to lose yet another outfit to the DG cells. Just as she stepped out of her car, however, she almost fell over from a sudden tremor. She thought it was an aftershock until she saw all the soil flying up from beyond the hill that the avatar had pointed out. The Dark Gundam had arrived.

Rain ran across the street and climbed up the steep hill with her silver twin floating behind her. Once she reached the top, she looked down to see the Dark Gundam's head and massive red shoulders poking out of a deep crater below her. Its engine was rumbling softly, almost a purr. Even though she knew it was going to be there, she still felt herself becoming queasy. She held on to the nearest boulder for support as her knees briefly weakened.

Now that she was face to face with it, there was no need for the avatar. As it faded from view, the machine asked her directly, _Are you ready, Rain Mikamura?_

Rain swallowed hard. Was she really doing this? Was she really going to pilot the Dark Gundam, the horrible contraption that tormented her and her friends for over a year? The distant sound of a beam saber on metal convinced her. There was no other option.

"Yes...I'm ready," she said, the pit of her gut sinking further.

 _Then I will eject my temporary life unit,_ the Dark Gundam replied.

It carefully lifted itself out of the ground until its entire upper body was exposed. Its chest plates oozed apart, strands of liquid metal dangling between them. Inside the cockpit was a young man covered in large silver blotches and hanging from the ceiling by green cables. It was a young man Rain had seen before.

 _Is that...Dr. Kasshu's lab assistant?_ she asked herself as she looked him over.

The cables lifted him out of the cockpit and placed him on top of the hill beside Rain. The liquid silver began to retract from his clothes and body.

 _You may go now, Ken Ogawa,_ the Gundam said just before it disconnected itself from him. He immediately fell to his knees.

"Are you alright?" Rain cried, placing a hand on his shoulders and shaking him gently.

"Ugh... what happened...?" Ken moaned as he tried to wipe silver residue off of his neck.

He noticed the shaking and looked up to see Rain standing over him. "Oh hey, I remember you! You're Miss Mikamura, Domon's girlfr-" He cut himself off when he realized she was only in her undergarments. He quickly covered his eyes and looked away while turning beet red.

"I am _so_ sorry! I-I didn't know...!" he cried.

"It...it's alright," Rain sighed, bashfully covering her chest with her arms. "Listen...Ken was it? You need to get as far away from here as you possibly can, alright?"

Ken turned around to find the freed Dark Gundam glaring and grumbling at him from down in a huge pit. He let out a yelp and jumped to his feet in terror. Without another word or looking back, he bolted down the hill, leaving Rain alone with the Dark Gundam. As she watched him make his escape, she sighed and asked herself again if she was really going to do this.

She turned to the Gundam and said, "Alright, let's go."

 _Understood._

The green cables gently wrapped around her midsection and carefully carried her into the cockpit. The chest plates closed behind her, plunging her into darkness until the panoramic screens turned on a moment later. A few of the cables released her, but most stayed wound around her like a harness.

"Listen, before you start covering me in that liquid...," Rain said, knowing what was about to come next, "let's compromise about this set up."

 _Compromise?_

"Yes..., don't turn me into a statue, don't cover my head, and _don't_ cover my eyes!"

 _As you wish._

Metallic gel began to ooze up from the cockpit floor. It engulfed her feet before climbing up her legs. The liquid also seeped out from the cables around her middle and enveloped her torso and arms. The machine thankfully stayed true to its word, and the silver stopped right underneath her chin. It only slightly hardened underneath the cable harness, possibly to prevent rope burns. Once it stopped spreading, the metal suddenly began to darken in some places and change color in others. Much to her surprise, it turned black and magenta, just like her normal fightsuit.

 _Is this to your liking?_

"Better than the alternative," Rain answered while looking herself over. She had to give this stuff credit, it was easier to get on than the fightsuit. If it wasn't crawling with DG Cells, it would make a great upgrade to the mobile trace system.

Her amazement was cut short when she felt a sharp sting on the back of her neck. A green cable had attached itself to the base of her skull. With the mental link complete, she could feel her mind flooded with the Dark Gundam's presence. She felt a lukewarm wave of contentment with just a hint of excitement wash over her.

 _Once again, we are one._

"Yeah, about that..."

Rain closed her eyes and focused on the mental link, just like she had done in the dream.

 _Disable self-replication,_ she mentally commanded. _Set self-evolution to permissions-only._

The Gundam suddenly shuddered. Rain had to hang onto the cables so as not to lose her footing.

 _Why did you do that?_ it demanded in muted aggravation. _My self-replication and self-evolution abilities are crucial in foiling the ZERO System._

"Just because I'm willing to work with you this time does _not_ mean I trust you!" Rain scolded it. "I need to make sure you're not going to form another colony the second we defeat Ulube!"

 _This is a tactical error,_ the Dark Gundam argued. There was a pause, and its dull anger subsided. _But I suppose your suspicion is justified. In that case, I must ask permission for a form change._

"Why?"

 _The military witnessed my escape. I have encrypted my signal so that they cannot track me. However, once I surface, they will easily notice me by my unique body type. Therefore, I will need to transform before I challenge Major Ulube Ishikawa._

Rain weighed the risk and any viable alternatives, "Alright, but we need to hurry," she replied.

She jumped a little when the image of what looked like the Rising Gundam's blueprints suddenly appeared before her. They were floating there in the middle of her field of vision. She couldn't tell if it was a hologram or if it was an image downloaded directly into her mind. The schematics looked largely the same as the Rising Gundam's with a few major changes. The most notable were a concealable second pair of arms much like the ones the Dark Gundam currently had, a beam bow with rapid-fire capabilities, and a naginata equipped with a blast chiller rather than a heating unit.

 _This is the form you would be most comfortable with, correct?_

"I suppose so," Rain answered, confused. "But isn't the Rising Gundam half your size? Won't the military get suspicious if they see a giant version of it running around?"

 _You raise a good point. I cannot reduce my size, as the only way to do that would be to concentrate my cells and make my body very dense. Doing so would greatly reduce my mobility and cause structural problems. Shall I choose a different disguise?_

"No, we don't have time for that. Let's just go with this, and we can always change your form later."

 _Confirmed. Commencing transformation, please stand by._

While nothing happened inside the cockpit itself, Rain could hear loud squelching and squishing noises all around her. She could see part of the transformation on her video screens, as the Dark Gundam had its arms out in front of it. The armor pieces melted into a silver gel before shifting around and molding themselves into replicas of the Rising Gundam's arms. The left forearm even formed an oversized version of the beam bow on its side. Once the limbs became solid again and changed to the appropriate color scheme, the machine held its transformed arms straight out, its fists together. A silver pole grew out of either side of its fists, with a long blade forming on one end. The new weapon changed from silver to a bright blue.

 _Transformation complete,_ the Dark Gundam announced.

As soon as it finished its metamorphosis, Rain suddenly heard an ominous slurping noise directly behind her and felt something wet and cold touch her back. She whirled around to find a huge blob of silver gel rising up from the floor. She jumped back as the blob reached out for her, most likely to engulf her.

"What do you think you're doing?!" she demanded, assuming the machine was already trying to turn on her.

 _Do not be alarmed,_ the Dark Gundam reassured her. _This cushion is to prevent neck and spine injuries._

"From what?"

 _We are now preparing for takeoff,_ the machine explained, _Please be seated._

With that, the Dark Gundam burst out of the ground and shot straight up into the air. The force of gravity unceremoniously shoved Rain into the gelatinous metallic pillow with a loud splat. After she was able to reorient herself, she looked at the video screens to see what was currently going on with Ulube and Domon. It looked like the Burning Gundam's chest plates had now been completely torn off. The test Gundam was kneeling down, grabbing at something on the ground. The Dark Gundam charged up its new thrusters and flew toward the other two mobile suits.

 _I'm coming, Domon,_ Rain thought. She prayed they weren't too late.

* * *

What's going on here?

That was what Ken thought as he was knocked to the ground by the tailwind of an enormous Gundam.

He was currently on the road, next to a car that he assumed belonged to Rain. Off in the distance were two other Gundams. He had spotted them as he had been running down the hill, trying to escape from the Dark Gundam's clutches. One was unmistakably the Burning Gundam; he had seen it so many times during the previous Gundam Fight that he could recognize it easily. For some reason, it was lying on its back and not moving. The other was an experimental Gundam. Because it was out here and not in the lab where it should have been, he guessed that it could be the one that had been stolen a few weeks ago. He watched in confusion as the latter ripped the former's cockpit open.

When he made it to the road, he turned to ask Rain if she knew what they were doing, only to find that she wasn't there. A quick look around revealed that she wasn't behind him or anywhere in sight. Ken quickly came to the conclusion that the monster had grabbed her.

What was he going to do? With Rain in its cockpit, that awful thing could repeat the horror of the end of the Gundam Fight. He began to hyperventilate at the thought, gripping his hair and pacing. How could he be so careless? Of all of the things he could possibly overlook...

He tried to calm himself down and think, inhaling in and out slowly as he rubbed his ears. If the Burning Gundam was here, that meant Domon must be here too, right? So he should go down there and tell him what just happened. Domon beat the Dark Gundam before, he should be able do it again. But what about that guy in the test Gundam? If they were vicious enough to tear open another mobile suit's cockpit, they might be vicious enough to step on him. And what about the fact that the Burning Gundam was now badly damaged and possibly non-functional?

Before Ken could do anything, however, a huge Gundam came out of nowhere, sailing right over his head and causing him to land right on his rear. As he picked himself up off the road, he saw that the mystery mobile suit looked like a gigantic version of the Rising Gundam. Where did _that_ thing come from? The only other Gundam around here was...

No, it couldn't be. Sure, the Dark Gundam was capable of shapeshifting, but why would it make itself look like... _that?_ What was going on here?!

Ken had to take a second to calm himself down again. He watched as the overgrown "Rising Gundam" made its way over to the others. Alright, change of plans. He still needed to find a way to contact the base and let them know where he and the Dark Gundam were. It was going to be difficult with his phone all the way back at the security office. There was also no one driving down this lonely stretch of road, so he couldn't flag a random passerby for help. The only car around here at all was the parked one right next him.

He cautiously approached the car and took a peek inside. He spotted Rain's purse sitting in the passenger seat of her car. He also noticed that her car was unlocked.

Desperate times called for desperate measures. Ken opened the car door and dug around in the purse until he found Rain's phone. It was password protected of course, but he was fortunately familiar with this model. It was the same as the one his parents used, so he already knew a few workarounds thanks to them accidentally locking themselves out.

After a minute or two, he managed to get the main menu to come up. He brought up the keypad and began to dial the number of his sergeant major, Akino. He just hoped help would arrive in time.


	11. The Rising Darkness

**Disclaimer:** _Mobile Fighter G Gundam_ is owned by Bandai and Sunrise. I just write about it in my spare time.

 **Author's Note:** Many thanks to ALittleSalty1 for beta reading this chapter! Please check out her story, "The Long Road to Hell"!

 **On the Dark Side**

 **Chapter 11: The Rising Darkness! Rain vs an Old Enemy!**

He's done for. That's what Ulube told himself as his beam saber finished tearing through the Burning Gundam's chest plates. He dug his Gundam's fingers into the slit he created and began to pry the plates apart. Just as he got them partially open, however, he heard a shout from within the cockpit. A powerful force suddenly knocked his hands away. He looked down to see Domon climbing out of the gaping hole. Ulube took the opportunity to reach down and grab the King of Hearts, but Domon managed to elude him by jumping down to the ground.

Once he landed, however, Domon toppled over and couldn't get back up. One of his legs was sticking out at an odd angle. Whatever happened to it, it sure made Ulube's job easier.

He reached for Gundam Fighter again, ready to crush him into a bloody smear. He stopped, however, when the ZERO System warned him that Domon was about to unleash another attack. Sure enough, he was twisting his body into one of his ridiculous poses down there, this time on his knees. Ulube simply moved to one side, and the oncoming ki blast harmlessly sailed past his Gundam's shoulder.

As he reached down once more, Ulube saw Domon trying desperately to hobble away. He was dragging that bad leg of his behind him. It was so amusingly pathetic, Ulube was tempted to laugh. He resisted the urge, reminding himself of the consequences of allowing his ego to get the best of him. Instead, he blocked Domon's path with one hand to prevent him from taking shelter underneath the Burning Gundam. He balled the other hand into a fist and raised it high above his enemy's head...

But just as his fist came halfway down, the sound of roaring engines grabbed his attention. He looked up to see an immense Gundam flying right toward him. He quickly got up and leapt backward to avoid being rammed. The massive machine barreled past him, then swooped back around. It caused the ground to tremble as it landed right between him and the fallen Burning Gundam.

The monstrosity before him resembled a giant version of his Rising Gundam, right down to its weapons. Now that he was able to get a good look at it, however, intuition dictated that something was wrong. Its shoulders were a little too broad, its hips and legs too wide, and its midsection too thin.

In fact, its body shape reminded him of a very different Gundam. Curious, he decided to give it a quick scan for DG Cells. It was infested with them. Just as he suspected.

"That's enough, Ulube!" a familiar woman's voice sounded from the strange machine's loudspeaker. "I won't let you hurt Domon!" She pointed her naginata at him as she made her demand.

Down on the ground, Domon had crawled over to the Burning Gundam's arm and was leaning on it for support. A quick zoom-in on his face showed him staring up at the false Rising Gundam, confused. He was also glancing at the back of his right hand, probably looking at his Shuffle crest.

"Why, Dr. Rain Mikamura," Ulube said, turning back to his new opponent. "What a pleasant surprise!"

"There won't be anything 'pleasant' about this if you don't let Domon go!" she snapped.

"Can I still thank you for bringing the Dark Gundam to me?" he continued. "After all, you've saved me a lot of trouble."

Ulube quickly glanced at Domon again to see how he'd react. His face was pale, his eyes were wide, and his jaw was hanging open. Priceless.

"There's no way in hell I would do that," Rain sneered, "Besides, this is not the Dark Gundam you tried to make it to be! So I dare you to take it from me!"

"Well, this is interesting," said Ulube. "The last time we saw each other face to face, you fainted out of sheer fear. Now it seems that you've come to actually present a challenge."

"I'm not going to take anything less than unconditional surrender, Ulube," Rain demanded, "So don't get cute."

"Unfortunately for you, Doctor, surrender is not an option for me," He pointed his beam saber at her. "Now then, about your mobile fighter. Hand it over, and I won't have to kill you."

The giant Gundam spread its legs apart, bent at its knees, and brandished its weapon. "Never!"

"Alright, if you won't cooperate," the major replied, "then I'll just have to take it by _force!_ "

His Gundam charged at the massive machine, beam saber first. The ZERO System warned that Rain would try to block his attack with her naginata. Indeed, she was starting to hold up her weapon, right on cue. With that, he aimed his blade for the polearm itself and cut it neatly half. Just as he was about to stab the giant Gundam in the chest in order to pry open its cockpit, he received another warning of an oncoming attack. He jumped back, his Gundam just missing being slashed across the midsection as his opponent swiped at him with the bladed half of its broken weapon. He noticed that the blade's edge left an odd trail of water vapor as it arced through the air. The Dark Gundam then touched the two cut ends of the pole to each other, which fused back together seamlessly. The naginata now looked as if it had never been damaged in the first place.

Rain then charged at Ulube, holding her naginata up high and tried to bring it down right on his mobile suit's head. He was easily able to parry her attack, as well as the next few predictable strikes. He didn't even need to use the ZERO System at this point; the doctor was clearly not a fighter.

As he blocked her next attack, however, Ulube was taken by surprise when Rain suddenly changed the shape of her blade. It turned into a long sickle which curved right over his beam saber and pierced one of his Gundam's chestplates. This shapeshifting had gone completely under the ZERO System's detection. Ice crystals began to form around the puncture.

It was then that Rain started pushing down on him, using its size and superior strength to overpower him. Green cables snaked out of the massive Gundam's wrists and began to wrap around his arms. Ice started to spread across his chest. It seemed that Rain was a tougher opponent than he thought, though he figured it was largely thanks the highly advanced mobile fighter she was piloting rather than her own skill.

Ulube waited until the ZERO System gave him the signal. He then shoved the sickle off to the side, breaking off much of the ice and knocking the larger Gundam off balance. He then jumped backward, making sure to yank the cables as hard as he could. The oversized Rising Gundam pitched forward and fell on its hands and knees. The tendrils immediately lost their grip on him.

Ulube wasted no time in dealing the finishing blow. As the giant began to get back on its feet, Ulube charged forward and stabbed it right in its chest. Now all he had to do was remove Rain before the thing could repair itself. Then the Dark Gundam would be his once more.

Before he could do anything, however, the Gundam's upper body suddenly turned silver. It began to shift and warp as if being molded by giant invisible hands. Its red chest became olive green and covered in studs. Its pauldrons thickened and turned gold and green. Its head molded itself into a helmet with a single spike on top. Ulube quickly removed his saber and stepped back in shock. The mechanical monster had partially turned itself into the Haow Gundam - they very mobile fighter that had defeated him back in the 12th Gundam Fight. If he still had a stomach, he knew he'd be nauseated by now.

The chimeric mobile suit stood up, the hole in its chest sealing back up. It raised its hands and fused all of its loose tendrils together. It molded them into what was supposed to be the Haow Gundam's cloth weapon, which it immediately lashed at him. Ulube was able to shake himself out of his disgust fast enough to dodge it by jumping up into the air.

"Was that some sort of attempt to intimidate me?!" he barked at his opponent.

The bizarre machine used its tendril cloth to pick its freezing scythe up off the ground and return it to its hands. It then retracted its cables and reverted itself back to its Rising Gundam appearance.

"No, it was an attempt to make you give up!" Rain replied. "We know you've got the ZERO System. It won't work on us!"

"What? How did you...?"

How she even knew about the system was puzzling; it had fallen into obscurity thanks to its spectacular failure. But no one could have known that he had stolen it. Did the Dark Gundam find out somehow? He shook his head; it didn't matter.

"As I told you before, I absolutely will not surrender to the likes of you!" Ulube barked, his annoyance boiling in to agitation.

The Dark Gundam strapped its scythe to its back and readied its beam bow.

"Alright, have it your way!" Rain said as she aimed the laser arrow.

Ulube scoffed. The Rising Arrow was a very slow attack, easily dodged without precognitive software. So he was quite surprised when his own precognitive software warned him that the bow was already charged, even though Rain had not pulled on the energy string at all.

" ** _DARKNESS ARROW!"_**

Three purple beam arrows flew out of the bow's muzzle. Ulube was able to dodge the first one, but the second grazed him, and the third hit him right in the midsection. The blast sent his Gundam flying, where it eventually skidded to a stop on its back, scraping against dozens of boulders in the process. He managed to cling to the mobile tracer to avoid being ejected, but the impact caused his limbs to shatter.

He sneered as he reformed his DG Cell body. Of course the beam bow had been modified too, why wouldn't it? He scolded himself for underestimating his opponents so much.

Ulube took a moment to reconnect himself to his mobile trace system by placing loose wires back into his body. Outside, the Dark Gundam was cautiously lumbering closer, its bow trained on him.

Clearly he would not be able to defeat this thing using the ZERO System alone. In that case, he was going to have to use this Gundam's special attacks. He had been trying to avoid using them, as he wanted the Dark Gundam as intact as possible. However, his enemy's bizarre, unpredictable abilities and great strength gave him little choice.

Energy began to charge up in his mobile fighter's hands as he stood up. Ulube had selected this particular experimental Gundam out of all the others due to the weapons it had been testing. Though he had never used them before, he had seen them used enough times in the field to have an idea of how they worked.

Once again, he heard Rain ordering him to give up. He didn't bother to respond, and instead checked with the ZERO System to see when he should strike. But as the software began to make its calculations, it suddenly became sidetracked as it began to predict what forms his opponent might take. Ulube tried to stop it and force it to concentrate on only the relevant parameters, but it wouldn't respond. After several more attempts to cancel the process failed, he tried to restart the system. It didn't respond to that command either.

He silently cursed to himself. Never mind, he would just have to ignore it. As he began to place his arms out in front of him, he quickly realized his software wasn't the only thing that was unresponsive. His arms wouldn't budge. Was his body damaged in that fall somehow? No...it was because of the ZERO System. It was taking up so much processing power in his CPU, that it was causing everything else to lag!

He immediately tried to find a workaround to shut off the system, but even that was painfully slow. Outside, the massive Gundam lowered its weapon and stepped right up to him. He watched helplessly as green cables began to slither out of its wrists again.

* * *

Back on the ground, Domon had managed to hobble all the way to the Burning Gundam's head unit. He began to paw through the various cables and wires looking for anything out of place. He remembered that right before his Gundam lost power, Ulube had been feeling around its neck. Domon figured the major had injected DG Cells in there to shut it down.

It wasn't long before he found masses of wires coated in silvery scales. He started to peel away at the scales in hopes that he could restore power to the Burning Gundam if he cleaned them out. It was a good thing his hands were already covered in latex.

At first, he didn't believe Ulube when he revealed that Rain was piloting the Dark Gundam. After all, it didn't make sense; it should have been locked up deep in a military base somewhere. But then his Shuffle Crest reacted, and the Gundam transformed and grew tendrils. He didn't know how it escaped, or why it was seemingly co-operating with Rain at the moment, but it didn't matter right now. What mattered was getting the Burning Gundam up and running again.

He glanced up to see that it had its cables wrapped around Ulube's Gundam. He then turned back to his work, tearing out the DG Cell plaques with both hands. He knew that once it was done with Ulube, it would immediately form another colony. He wouldn't let that happen again.

* * *

Daylight poured into Ulube's cockpit as the tendrils pried open his Gundam's chestplates. He watched in horror as they crawled in, oozing all over the floor like giant worms. They squirmed into the mobile trace system where they began to poke and slither up his feet and legs.

That was uncomfortably familiar. Being paralyzed in complete fear and awe before the Dark Gundam's might was where his fall began, and seemingly, this is where it would end. The only thing he had left that could be taken was his mind, the last thing that Ulube perceived as being genuinely his. All of his flesh, organs, fluids, and bones had been consumed by DG Cells. Even whatever soul he had was the price he paid for being 'blessed' with the cells. He was deader than Gentle Chapman was. And to erase the last of his being would make him as much of a puppet as he was as he piloted the Grand Master Gundam, only to end up as a pile of sand.

He wanted so desperately to escape, but he was once again under the Dark Gundam's spell. His eyes couldn't budge, they were completely glued on its glowing red optics as the crevice in his chestplate widened. Even the most minute movement was inhibited by the lagging ZERO System. All of his attempts to shut it down were fruitless. The system carried on, now calculating the movements of the cables, and all of nearly infinite ways they could fuse, multiply, or change shape.

He felt a cable crawl up his back and burrow into his neck. Instantly, he was bombarded by security errors as a foreign presence invaded his CPU and the filaments injected themselves into his brain stem. He wanted to block it, but the ZERO System continued to eat up all of his resources. His consciousness was quickly overwhelmed by the Dark Gundam's familiar and dreadful presence, and he could feel with its dull irritation at him. Strangely enough, it seemed angrier at him for attacking its life unit than attacking it personally.

 _"Commencing repairs."_

It could speak now? He didn't remember it having a voice last time. Wasn't _he_ its voice?

Suddenly, the ZERO System's interface disappeared from his field of vision. Ulube collapsed to the floor as his whole body relaxed at once. As he hobbled back to his feet, the word "Initializing" appeared in front of him. He then felt a tingling sensation around the cable in his neck which began to slowly radiate outward into his skull. "Initializing" was now replaced by a percentage sign that was steadily rising.

With the ZERO system shut off and his locomotion restored, the first thing he did was to rip the cable out of his head. He shuddered as he felt the filaments in his neck slide out dripping in liquid gundarium. Now that a few of his cells were repaired, he figured his body could fix the rest on its own. However, the Dark Gundam was still connected to his mind despite their physical link being severed. It immediately punished him by making his arm go numb. A burning sensation was quickly followed by the squelching sound of his arm falling out of its socket and hitting the floor. The clawed fingers writhed and twitched and eventually fell still as the arm quickly melted into a silver puddle.

 _Do not resist,_ it ordered.

"Get out of my head!" he screamed at it. He tried to disable his wireless communication, but kept getting errors; the Gundam was blocking all of his attempts. Meanwhile, more cables began to wind themselves around him, inserting themselves into his body creating bastardized veins underneath his scaled skin.

 _You are a rogue unit and must be contained,_ the Dark Gundam explained, _Furthermore, you have tried to terminate my life unit several times already. You ought to be grateful that I am repairing you instead of dismantling you._

Ulube touched the puddle that was once his arm with a toe. It was reabsorbed into his leg, and a new arm grew out of his shoulder in an eruption of cables and fluid. He then began tearing wires out of his body with both hands.

"Let go of me! _Let go_!" he shouted as he ripped a handful of the cables out of his skin. "I've already given you enough! I refuse to be your puppet again! I _won't!"_

As he swatted away a small group of tendrils that tried to inject themselves into his back, a new error appeared warning him that his motor functions were being compromised. Almost instantly, his body felt like it weighed a metric ton. His arms felt like sledgehammers and it took a vast amount of effort just to lift a hand. He toppled over, the wires catching his fall before tying him up.

Ulube opened his mouth to scream, but his jaw just hung open, silent. It was then that the cables that had coiled themselves around him carefully lifted him off the floor. They slowly started to drag him out of the cockpit.

His eyes could still move, and they rolled around in their sockets desperately looking for a way out. He suddenly spotted a button on the main panel that might help. The trick was finding the strength to move so that he could press it.

 _Perhaps you can redeem yourself by becoming my auxiliary life unit,_ the machine continued as it began to pull him out of the cockpit, _I have not yet fulfilled my prime directive of restoring Earth. However, Rain Mikamura has said that she will only agree to remain my pilot if I do not kill any more humans. I estimate that if I were to have more than one core, I may accomplish my directive without having to take any more human lives. Your DG Cell body would be ideal, as it is more durable than a normal human body._

His gut sank. It _was_ planning on absorbing him. That gave Ulube enough motivation to summon up every last ounce of strength and thrash his body side to side. The thin tendrils eventually gave way, dropping him on top of the main console. As luck would have it, he landed right on that button he saw earlier. His Gundam's chestplates opened further. The Dark Gundam's irritation gave way to confusion.

This momentary distraction caused it to release its grip on Ulube's body, and it was all he needed. He was able to sit up and hit the button again with his palm. The plates slammed closed, severing the green cables and freeing him. The percentage disappeared from his vision as repairs abruptly stopped. The pressure lifted from his mind as the Dark Gundam's confusion was replaced with shock. Acting quickly, he began blocking all of his wireless access points. The Dark Gundam's presence became weaker and weaker with each point disabled.

When it was down to the last two points, however, the Gundam suddenly came back with a vengeance. It clung as hard as it could to the last entryway, refusing to let him shut it down. He heard something scratching against his mobile suit's chest, as well as loud, low growling.

Ulube hopped back into his mobile trace unit and quickly reattached a few loose wires. He then fired his Gundam's vulcan guns, assuming that the beast was directly in front of him. Its hold on his CPU faltered again, and he was finally able to block the last points. Its presence completely faded from his mind.

Immediately, Ulube continued his attack from earlier. Energy once again flowed into his Gundam's hands. He may not be able to use the ZERO System against his enemy, but maybe he didn't need to.

* * *

"What happened?" Rain asked.

 _I was not able to contain Major Ulube Ishikawa,_ the Dark Gundam explained, _Furthermore, he has disabled all communications._

Ulube's Gundam was holding its arms out in front of it with its hands glowing. The stance looked awfully familiar...

Suddenly, a small plume of fire burst from the glowing hands. The flame was scarcely strong enough to singe a mobile suit's paint job, but the Dark Gundam took several steps back and moaned loudly. Rain could feel its fear rising in her mind.

"Well, well, well," Ulube chuckled over his loudspeaker. "If I didn't know any better, I'd swear you're scared of fire!"

The major shot another plume out of his palms for emphasis. The Dark Gundam hissed through its mouthplate and brought out its second pair of arms. It fired its palm cannons at him, but he was able to swerve around them. He flew up close and let loose with a few larger flames. Now that Rain got a better look at it, Ulube's technique resembled a very weak Sekiha Tenkyoken...

From the Dark Gundam's abdomen, two giant tendrils as thick as tree trunks burst forth. The rudimentary teeth and jaws on their tips told Rain they were supposed to be Gundam heads; however, with the self-replication ability disabled, they could not form properly. The fanged tendrils opened their mouths and rapidly fired beam shots at Ulube. He charged forward, missing their hits, and grabbed onto both tendrils in each hand. The hands began to glow again, and the tendrils suddenly caught fire.

The Dark Gundam let out a deafening scream. Rain fell to her knees as the crippling surge of terror washed over her.

"Stop! Calm down!" she yelled at it. "This is what he wants!"

Unfortunately, the Dark Gundam was already in a panic. It lost its focus on the battle as it stopped to sever the burning tentacles. Meanwhile, the major unsheathed his beam saber.

"Didn't like that, did you?" he asked mockingly, "Then you're going to _hate_ this!"

His Gundam suddenly began to spin around in place, kicking up high winds. Though it was nowhere near as powerful, Rain recognized it as the Burning Slash Typhoon. How was Ulube able to use all of Domon's attacks like that?

 _WARNING: Major Ulube Ishikawa is building up large quantities of energy,_ the Dark Gundam cautioned. Despite its "voice" being as monotone as ever, Rain could feel its fear continuing to mount. _We must retreat._

"No we _won't_!" Rain shouted.

She summoned up all the mental energy she could to overcome the pyrophobic machine and force its pauldrons to disengage from its shoulders. The pauldrons came together in midair to form the shield. The Dark Gundam quickly grabbed it and held it up just as a wave of energy burst from their spinning opponent. The wave was just strong enough to toast the shield and whatever parts of the Gundam's body couldn't fit behind it. Its DG Cells quickly repaired the damage, but it still moaned in pain. Meanwhile, Ulube was still spinning, charging up another attack.

Rain tried to get the Dark Gundam to stand up, but it wouldn't budge. It grumbled in protest at every attempt she made.

"Listen, I know you're scared...but-," she began.

 _I...am not scared,_ the machine interrupted her, _I am...simply concerned, as I have not developed fireproof armor yet._

"You weren't kidding when you said you were bad at lying," Rain said. Never in her life had she ever thought she would have to give a pep talk to the Dark Gundam, of all things.

"As I was saying, you have to get up and fight back! Remember how you used that fake Ulube to try to get me angry? This is the same thing, only now the real Ulube is trying to scare _you_ into giving up!"

 _Perhaps,_ it replied, _However, I am unsure as of what I should do. I believe the mobile fighter he is using is the one used to test the Burning Gundam's weapons._

Rain blinked and looked up at Ulube, who was continuing to mimic one of Domon's special attacks. "That...makes a lot of sense," she said. "But that should give you even more reason to fight! You don't want to be defeated by a fake Burning Gundam, do you?"

She felt the Dark Gundam's terror begin to subside, _No, I do not._

"Exactly," Rain continued. "And remember, you took on an entire army of mobile fighters once and almost won! One little test Gundam shouldn't be a problem."

 _Yes, you are right,_ the machine replied, as it stood up, _I should not let my aversion to Domon Kasshu's techniques develop into an irrational fear. I must finish subduing the rogue unit._

With that, the Dark Gundam charged through the high winds, shield first. Ulube created another energy shockwave, and Rain felt a small spike in fear. However, its fright quickly dissipated, and plowed right through the wave without slowing down. It rammed the prototype Gundam, sending it flying. It crashed to the ground several meters away.

The Dark Gundam removed the scythe from its back with its free hand. The weapon then turned silver and melted into the machine's arm. Schematics for a new special attack appeared before Rain's eyes.

 _Let us finish our task with this,_ the Gundam said.

Rain quickly analyzed the images, which showed that the blast chiller had been placed inside the machine's palm. Suddenly, she noticed that, in the distance, Ulube's Gundam was starting to sit back up.

"Right," she nodded, "Let's do this."

Frost began to coat the Dark Gundam's hand as it glowed an ominous blue. Ulube had just gotten back on his feet when he heard Rain's scream.

 ** _"FREEZING DARKNESS FINGER!"_**

Before he could do anything, the massive machine pounced on him and grabbed his Gundam by its head with its glowing hand.

 ** _"HEAT DEATH!"_**

Gigantic ice crystals engulfed the test Gundam's body with the sound of thousands of panes of glass shattering at once. When it was over, Ulube's mobile suit had been completely frozen solid.

 _Major Ulube Ishikawa has been successfully contained,_ the Dark Gundam reported. It tucked away its extra arms and powered down the chiller.

"Thank goodness," Rain sighed, rubbing her temples. Once again, the coolness of the metal gel was soothing against her flushed face.

"Rain! Are you okay?!" a familiar voice shouted to her.

"Domon?" she looked up to see that the Burning Gundam was operational again and was coming toward them. It was looking much worse for wear; in addition to its previous damage, it also had its chestplates hanging open. They swung back and forth with each step.

Its hand was also glowing bright red.

"Just hold on, okay?" Domon said, holding up the glowing palm, "I'm going to try to get you out of there!"

Rain felt a pang of alarm from the Dark Gundam that was quickly replaced by irritation.

 _Please tell Domon Kasshu that he is being very ungrateful_ , it snapped as it took a step back and held up its shield.

"Wait, Domon!" Rain cried, "It's not what you think!"

"Rain, I know it's the Dark Gundam," he replied, "I don't know how it captured you this time, but I'll make sure it never does it again!"

The machine in question growled at him.

"Would you two just calm down already?!" Rain snapped at the both of them. Domon stopped in his tracks but kept his hand charged up. The Dark Gundam let out a defiant snort.

Rain sighed before continuing. "The truth is...the Dark Gundam didn't capture me. I agreed to pilot it."

"What?" the Domon lowered his burning palm.

"I...I'm sorry, Domon. I thought Ulube was going to kill you. Then the Dark Gundam escaped, and I didn't know what else to do."

"It doesn't matter, I need to get you out, anyway," Domon replied, raising his palm again. "We can't let it form another colony and absorb the Earth!"

"Actually, it can't. I've disabled some of its abilities," Rain explained, "What we should focus on first is Ulube. We need to turn him into the authorities before..."

 _WARNING: Major Ulube Ishikawa's energy levels are rising at an exponential rate._

"Right. Before his energy levels rise at an expo-," Rain cut herself off, "Wait, what?"

The ice crystals imprisoning Ulube radiated a bright light before shattering and vaporizing. His Gundam emerged from the steam, revealing that it was used to test more than just the Burning Gundam's weapons. Its armor was now completely golden and was emitting incredible energy.

"I don't suppose you have a hyper-mode, too?" Rain asked the Dark Gundam.

 _Negative. I was never able to obtain the schematics to reverse engineer one,_ it replied.

Ulube suddenly lunged at the Dark Gundam, palm first. It tried to defend itself with its shield, but Ulube's hand managed to burn through it and grab the larger Gundam by the head. As it reached up to pull him off, the liquid silver began to rise up from the floor of the cockpit and create a bubble around Rain. Before she could ask it what it was doing, however, she was knocked to the ground by the shockwave of an explosion. Intense light and searing heat poured into the cockpit before the bubble protectively engulfed her. She curled herself up tightly as she was violently jostled around by what felt like an endless string of blasts. Despite the heat outside, the interior of the capsule became very cold; the DG Cells were working hard to keep the heat out at all costs. Finally, there was a tremendous crash and her bubble fell to what she assumed was the floor. While it cushioned most of her fall, she still yelped in pain as she fell on her side and bumped her head.

The silver bubble opened and slowly dissolved. Rain gagged from all the smoke and the acrid smell of burnt metal. She found that she was actually on the back wall of the cockpit and concluded that that last horrible sound had been the Dark Gundam falling over. The rest of the room was a mess of slag and burned cables. Her harness had been completely severed, and the wires around her chest fell to the ground. The Gundam's chestplates were now partially open, and what few fans were functional were trying to blow smoke out through the gaps.

Two new, partially singed cables slowly crawled up to her. One formed a breathing mask on its tip and pressed itself into her face, covering her nose and mouth. She felt relieved when fresh air flowed into her nostrils. The second cable connected to the back of her neck and began to scan her body for injury.

 _Body Temperature: 37.9°C_

 _Breath rate: 50 breaths/minute_

 _Pulse rate: 140bpm_

 _Blood Pressure: 125/80 mmHg_

 _No fractured bones detected._

 _No concussion detected._

"I'm fine, I'm fine!" Rain cried into her makeshift oxygen mask, "What about you?"

The Dark Gundam showed her its schematics via another floating image. Its head, torso, and upper arms were colored in red.

 _That last attack caused severe burn damage to 55.6% of my body,_ the Gundam answered, _Repair is underway. However, this process will take approximately 2.5 minutes. Even with you as my core unit, I am uncertain if we will have sufficient recovery time._

There was an ominous pause before it added, _Are you sure that you do not wish to restore my abilities to their full capacity?_

"No! We can make it without them!" Rain cried. She didn't want to admit it, but it was somewhat tempting right at the moment.

The schematics disappeared, and the panoramic screen flickered back to life. Through the digital artifacts, Rain could see that Domon had been quick to retaliate. He was currently unloading a flurry of rapid-fire punches right at the golden test Gundam's chest. Ulube wasn't dodging or blocking as quickly as he did earlier, but he seemed to be shrugging off what blows did connect.

The Burning Gundam suddenly ceased its blows and jumped backward. It raised a glowing clenched fist as the rest of its body became glided just like the experimental Gundam.

"Thi...and of mi...bur-rning red!" Domon shouted as the audio skipped. "It's l...or tells me-e to...asp vic...ry!"

 ** _"ER-R-RUPTING BURNING FING-!"_**

Rain gasped as the screen suddenly became consumed by digital static. "Domon!" she blurted out.

A moment later, she could see the outlines of the two Gundams through the graphical glitches. Each one had an arm in the air. It vaguely looked like their raised hands were locked together.

As the picture cleared up, Rain could see what had happened. Ulube had countered Domon's Erupting Burning Finger with his own. However, his knees were beginning to buckle, and his hand was losing its radiance. The young King of Hearts was able to bend the test Gundam's arm back and force Ulube to his knees.

That's when she noticed Ulube was taking out his beam saber with his free hand...

Rain sent the mental command to turn on the speakers and yelled "Look out!" into her mask. She was immediately answered by loud feedback screeches.

"What's wrong with the loudspeaker?!" she shouted to the Dark Gundam.

 _It is still undergoing repair at this time,_ it answered.

 ** _"AN-N...OW, HEAT EN-!"_**

Domon wasn't able to complete his garbled finishing move. In one quick motion, Ulube sliced off the Burning Gundam's right arm at the elbow. As the arm crashed to the ground, both it and the rest of the Burning Gundam lost their glow.

 _"NO!"_ Rain screamed. She trembled as tears came to her eyes. This couldn't be happening.

 _Do not worry. I believe have a solution to our current predicament,_ the Dark Gundam suddenly spoke.

"What is it? Tell me!" She prayed it didn't involve becoming a colony.

Outside, Domon tried another Erupting Burning Finger, this time with his left hand. However, Ulube managed to block it by grabbing the Burning Gundam by the forearm. Her view of the fight was suddenly blocked when a new schematic popped up in front of her. She took one look at it and became confused. Was it for a new form? The image showed a pieced-together Gundam that looked like...

She let out a little gasp when she realized what it really was.

 _I do not think Domon Kasshu will like this idea,_ the machine admitted, _However, on such short notice and what few parameters to work with, I could not calculate an alternative solution in which his life was spared._

"You're right, Domon _won't_ like that!" she replied. She looked up to see Ulube sawing off the Burning Gundam's left forearm with his beam saber. Meanwhile, Domon was repeatedly kicking him, trying to make him let go.

With only a twinge of hesitation, Rain conceded, "But we don't have a choice right now!"

There was ominous creaking and groaning as the Dark Gundam slowly picked itself up off the ground.

With one last kick, Domon managed to force Ulube off of him. Unfortunately, his left arm ripped right off as Ulube staggered backwards. Ulube tossed the arm aside and began to charge up his own Erupting Burning Finger; he wanted to have the satisfaction of killing the King of Hearts with one of his own techniques.

He stopped in his tracks when the smoking, smoldering Dark Gundam suddenly stood up. New cables slithered out of its abdomen and carefully wrapped themselves around the Burning Gundam's damaged torso. It dragged the ruined Gundam up to its chest.

"Rain? What's going on?" Domon asked, "What's it doing?!"

Rain remained silent. She wanted to tell him everything would be alright, but the loudspeakers still weren't working.

The front half of Dark Gundam's body turned silver, and liquid metal began to slowly engulf the Burning Gundam.

"Rain! Are you there?!" Domon shouted as he thrashed about, trying to break loose from his bonds. "Make it stop! RAIN?!"

The Dark Gundam responded by creating even more cables to keep the Gundam Fighter from moving as it dragged him into its depths. Domon let out one final scream as the Burning Gundam was completely swallowed whole.


	12. The Destruction of Meaning

**Disclaimer:** Mobile Fighter G Gundam is owned by Bandai and Sunrise. I just write about it in my spare time.

 **Author's Note:** Many thanks to ALittleSalty1 for beta reading this chapter! Please check out her story, "The Long Road to Hell"!

 **On the Dark Side  
Chapter 12: The Destruction of Meaning**

As the last sliver of daylight disappeared from his screens, Domon couldn't fathom what was happening. The only illumination in the cockpit came from the dim glow of the consoles and his Shuffle Crest, the latter of which was practically searing his hand off.

There were loud creaking and groaning of metal all around him. The damaged chestplate bent and buckled inward and slowly began to open along the vertical cut that Ulube made. Living cables of every size plopped into the cockpit with a loud series of splattering noises. They immediately began crawling all over the walls and floor, squelching as they went. They pried open panels on all the consoles and inserted themselves into them, making the metal and plastic bulge outward as they slithered around inside. Sometimes, adjacent panels would fall open, causing them to spill out. Liquid metal leaked in between them and dripped from their cracks. It flowed up and over every surface as if it had a mind of its own, covering everything in a reflective silver coat.

Domon leaped out of the mobile trace unit as the cables oozed their way over. He hissed through his teeth as pain shot up his injured leg, causing him to double over on his hands and knees. Behind him, the wires curled all around the railings of the tracer before ripping open the floor panels and infesting its innards. The lights slowly went out, plunging the room into near darkness.

Domon felt something cold engulf his shins and left hand. By the light of his crest, he could see the silvery fluid slowly crawling up his legs and forearm. He blanched. He tried to shake it off of him, but his limbs were glued firmly to the floor and would not budge an inch. Meanwhile, the squishing sound of cables was coming closer and closer...

He began to shake with rage as he curled his right hand into a tight fist. He closed his eyes and poured every ounce of strength into his crest. If this worked for the former Shuffle Alliance and George, it could work for him.

The King of Hearts crest steadily glowed brighter until it bathed the entire cockpit in golden light. Domon's hair whipped wildly around, caught in a wind emanating from the crest. The liquid released his limbs, allowing him to stand back up. The tendrils stopped their digging before retreating back through the tunnels they made in the walls. Domon took a few steps forward, raising his arm above his head. The silver receded halfway out of the cockpit. The cables were desperately trying to untangle themselves from the mobile tracer, ripping out small pieces of it as they struggled to get free.

"This is the end, Dark Gundam!" he shouted. "And after I'm done with you, I'll do the same to Ulube!"

As bold as his words were, Domon began to feel his strength leaving him. His body was aching, his arm was trembling, and sweat was trickling down his forehead. He gritted his teeth as he tried to pour even more energy into the crest. It just wasn't enough, however; with a loud gasp, he fell to his hands and knees. His bad leg throbbed in agony. The light of his crest faded, and the cockpit once again went dark.

He screamed as something sharp stung him in the back of the neck. Immediately afterward, an intense chill rolled down his spine. Shivering, he reached up to find a cable burrowing into the base of his head, its filaments digging underneath his skin. He tried to pull it out but was knocked over by a wave of cold liquid. The slimy substance invaded his mouth and filled it with a metallic taste. It stung his eyes and crusted them shut. He struggled to his knees, choking on the foul fluid. He tried to wipe it off his face, but he only ended up smearing it everywhere.

A feminine monotone voice droned from the darkness.

 _Body temperature: 39.4°C._

 _Breathing rate: 50 breaths/minute._

 _Pulse rate: 180bpm._

 _Blood pressure: 130/80 mmHg._

 _Loudness: 125dB._

 _No concussion detected._

 _Simple fracture found in left tibia. Commencing immobilization and administering anti-inflammatory medication._

Domon's ankle locked up as the silver solidified around his broken leg, forming a sort of cast around it. Tendrils curled around his chest and legs and gently lifted him off the floor. He thrashed around wildly, but they held him fast. He tried to focus on his crest again, but it wouldn't even so much as flicker.

" _Let go of me!_ " he roared as he clawed at his restraints. "I won't let you do to me what you did to Kyoji...or Rain!" His voice had a metallic ring to it, which he tried to ignore.

 _Do not resist,_ the woman's voice said, _You will only make your injuries worse._

"Who's there?!" Domon barked in response.

Even though his eyes were closed, he could see another person materialize in front of him. It was a slim, feminine figure that was completely chrome. She sported a very familiar feathery haircut and headband. But one look into the pair of bright green voids she had for eyes instantly told him that this was not Rain.

"You _monster!_ " Domon snarled, realizing what this thing was, "Stop pretending to be Rain!"

He put his palm out in front of him, ready to punish the fiend with a Sekiha Tenkyoken. However, the metal coating hardened around his mouth, preventing him from saying his mantra. He tried to pry it off his face, only to have his arms lock in place next.

"Stop that! Leave him alone!"

Domon didn't need to see her to know that Rain had just entered the cockpit. He felt the sludge on his face and arms soften before trickling off. It stayed solid around his broken shin, however. The cables lowered him back down to the floor, but kept his injured leg slightly lifted.

He opened his eyes to find the cockpit flooded with an eerie green glow. The cables infesting the ceiling were giving off the soft light. Rain was walking up to him in wearing what looked like her normal fightsuit. However, it went up to her chin, lacked the feedback antennae, and had a metallic sheen. She also had a cable sticking out of the back of her neck that trailed all the way down to the floor, and out large hole that had opened up in the back of the cockpit.

The Gundam Fighter wrapped his arms around her and gave her a tight squeeze. He shivered; her body was as cold as his was. In the distance, he spotted the Dark Gundam's avatar staring at them. Its eyes were wide, head tilted, and a blank expression on its face.

"Are you okay?" Domon asked Rain. "The Dark Gundam didn't hurt you, did it?"

"No, no, I'm fine," she replied, "What about you? Our... uhm, 'friend' here didn't mess with you too much, I hope?"

"It's done worse to me," Domon grumbled, shooting the chrome figure a glare. "You don't honestly trust that thing, do you?"

Rain grimaced, "No, I don't. That's why I deactivated some of its abilities."

The avatar turned up its nose and snorted.

"But it's still our only hope to defeat Ulube," she looked down at the metal-coated floor. "He's still outside. If we don't use the Dark Gundam's powers, he'll kill us both! I wish we didn't have to do this. I wish our friends were here to help, but..."

Domon held her hands. "It's alright, I understand," he reassured her. "I don't like it either. But if you say this is our only chance, I believe you. I'll help out in any way I can."

He looked up at the avatar and scowled, "If anything, I'll go along just to make sure that thing behaves itself!"

The silver copy glared back.

"Thank you, Domon," Rain said, her eyes glittering as she teared up.

She gave Domon a hug, and he returned the embrace. The cables in their necks twitched as a golden radiance traveled down from their points of attachment. It rapidly spread to the other tendrils, turning the entire cockpit gold. The avatar craned its head around, its blank green eyes bulging at this sudden change in color.

 _I do...not understand this...this..._

It looked at its hands and feet to find that they, too, had become gilded. Its image skipped, glitched, and blurred as its silver form completely converted to gold. Its body filled with amber static before it disappeared in a bright, glittering flash.

* * *

Ulube peered out from behind a large boulder to see if the coast was clear. He had taken cover when he saw the Dark Gundam ensnare the Burning Gundam with its tendrils and swallow it whole. The fear of being next broke his concentration, and caused him to fall out of hyper-mode. He was fully expecting something horrible to happen immediately afterward - perhaps the Dark Gundam learning all of Domon's techniques or forming a "Burning Colony." Instead, his opponent had been silent for the past minute or two. He needed to find out what it was doing.

At the moment, the Dark Gundam was just standing there. It had reverted back to its original form, though its color scheme remained entirely silver. All of its burns were gone, and the holes in its body sealed up. Its normally thin midsection bulged around the outline of the absorbed Burning Gundam's legs.

Ulube weighed his options. Now seemed like a good time to retreat. On the other hand, his enemy's inaction also made it a prime opportunity to attack. Perhaps if he was fast enough, he could cut it open and kill both Domon _and_ Rain...

He activated his beam saber and charged toward the immobile mobile fighter. He raised the blade, aiming for the Dark Gundam's chest. Suddenly, one of its silver hands reached up and grabbed him by the forearm. It effortlessly threw him several hundreds of meters away, causing him to crash into a low cliffside.

As he got back on his feet, he saw that the Dark Gundam was changing colors. Much to his horror, golden light radiated from its chest and covered the rest of its massive body. Ulube's sensors tried to read its energy emissions, but they all gave him errors; its power was greater than all of their scales.

It was also changing shape. A smaller pair of horns grew out of its head above the ones it had. Its huge shoulders became boxy and angular, though they retained the round vents. The Burning Gundam's six wings grew out of its back, followed by metal plates that formed in between them. The plates connected three of the appendages on each side, creating two solid wings. A rainbow halo appeared around them. Its optics activated, the right one blue, the left one red.

Golden tendrils shot out of the machine's wrists and snatched up the Burning Gundam's severed forearms. They were absorbed into the Dark Gundam's arms, which quickly copied their form. It opened its chest revealing two power regulators connected together with crisscrossing, bifurcating cables. A holographic image of the King of Hearts Shuffle Crest flashed over them. The monster let out an immense roar that caused the ground to shake almost as hard as the earthquake from earlier.

Ulube just stood there for a moment, staring with his jaw open.

"That's...that's not possible...," he mumbled to himself. How could those two Gundams possibly combine? The Dark Gundam and Domon were mortal enemies!

The abomination took a heavy step toward him. The earth trembled again, and his Gundam's frame rattled. Gold pixels and white noise static appeared in Ulube's field of vision around the monster's body. At that moment, he realized that he didn't care how two archnemeses would suddenly partner up. Now was _definitely_ time to retreat. He put his beam saber away and flew off as fast as his battered test mobile fighter could fly.

The horrid thing was not going to let him escape so easily. Out of his rear cameras, the Major could see it flying after him. Despite its huge size and bulky frame, it was astoundingly fast - in seconds it was already upon him. It raised both of its arms as if to grab him out of the air. The left hand burned red, the right hand was a cold blue.

" _No! Stay back!_ " he screamed.

He made a hard right turn just as the combined Gundam went to pounce on him. Its twin finger attacks hit the ground instead. Massive ice crystals erupted from the soil, throwing dirt and boulders everywhere. It was followed up by a massive explosion that sent Ulube hurtling forward. He was pelted with flying rocks as he skidded to a stop. The vaporized ice caused a dense fog to settle over the area.

Ulube picked himself up and scanned the area for his opponent. Everything around him was a dull white. He could barely see his Gundam's hands on his screens. Radar was picking up nothing but rocks. He ultimately decided to pick a direction and fly that way as fast as he could.

Just as he turned around, however, a gigantic figure emerged from the steam directly in front of him. The monster had changed shape. Its helmet was now rounded and had a mouthguard-like bar across its faceplate. Thick glove-like armor surrounded its forearms. Its chest was covered in rounded plates that somewhat resembled human pectoral muscles. Its larger Gundam face had disappeared from its lower abdomen, and its stout legs were shielded by long skirt armor. On its left shoulder was a short cape made of several strips of metal. Trailing behind it was a giant tendril "tail" with a dragon's head on the tip. It was still gold, and it was glaring at him with those red and blue optics.

His lower eyelid twitched as static crept into the corners of his vision. This Shuffle Alliance parody of the Grand Master Gundam was clearly meant to mock him, but he wasn't going to take the bait. He briefly opened his wireless communication again to summon the Fantomas from their hiding places. He had wanted to keep them in reserve in case he lost all of his Busshi and this Gundam, but the circumstances required their assistance.

Before he could make a move, the horrible amalgamation of Gundams suddenly swung its fist through the air. The jab created several fireballs which hurtled toward at him. He flew straight up, and they exploded right where he had been hovering.

As Ulube began to fly away from the beast, he suddenly received a warning that one of his Gundam's fingers was frozen. He looked at his hand and saw that the finger in question was covered in ice. Ice suddenly appeared on the adjacent finger. And then a finger on his other hand. Then he received the same error for his foot, immediately followed by a knee.

A glint of gold briefly shot past his front screens. He didn't need to see them to know that he was surrounded by dozens of golden Rose Bits. Each one was rapidly firing ice beams at him, concentrating their shots on his joints. He pushed his Gundam to fly faster, but they were able to keep up with him. The accumulating ice was beginning to slow him down and allow his opponent to catch up.

Ulube tightened his grip on the mobile tracer as his body twitched all over. He wished he could use the ZERO System, but he knew that it would simply halt his systems again. He then recalled that the Burning Slash Typhoon could destroy Rose Bits. He just hoped it didn't leave him too vulnerable.

However, he didn't even get a chance to reach for his beam saber. His Gundam was struck from behind and slammed into the ground on its face. He was flooded with dozens of error messages about crushed armor plating. The cockpit darkened as the rear screens cut to black.

Out of one of the side screens, Ulube could see the mechanical monster storming toward him. One of its arms had become long and rope-like, ending in a round mass the size of its head. Its dragon-headed tail was now slithering across the ground, its fanged maw gaping open.

Ulube tried to stand up, but the Gundam's iced-over joints refused to budge. The cockpit shook as the dragon head picked the damaged test fighter up in its jaws.

"No... _no!_ " he cried as the tail began to drag him back to its main body. Gingerly, Ulube's trembling hand began to reach for the eject button.

Fortunately for him, his pair of Fantomas swooped down from the sky and landed on either side of the combined Gundam. Relieved, Ulube opened up a private connection to both of them and began issuing commands. One of them stood in front of his opponent to hold it back. The other stomped on the dragon tendril until it released him.

As he fell back to the ground, a few chunks of ice broke off his Gundam's joints. He made it stand up to the best of its ability while issuing one last command to the Fantomas - engage self destruct sequence. Ulube took off at top speed, not even bothering to look behind him until he heard two explosions in the distance.

Unable to see behind him, he stopped and turned around see if the wretched thing had at least been incapacitated. The dust was beginning to settle, but he saw no smoke or flames. Instead he saw the Burning Gundam, hunched over, unmoving. Its forearms were reattaching themselves, and its missing wing erupted from its smoldering stump. It was surrounded by a small lake of liquid metal.

It suddenly stood straight up and looked in his direction, its eyes glowing red and blue. The surrounding fluid began seethe, and the Burning Gundam's body suddenly became obscured by pixellated static. Ulube immediately left, not wanting to see its next perverted form anyway.

His eyes rapidly shifted over what screens were still functioning as he continued on his escape route. That thing could be on him at any minute. And sure enough, just as he was banking upward to fly over a high, steep cliff, his radar warned him of a very large object coming up from behind.

Ulube looked at the cliff in front of him. Getting an idea, he flew directly at it. His opponent followed him.

He charged directly at the cliff's face as his opponent bombarded him with golden tendrils. Some of them had hands and others had fanged jaws. His field of vision threatened to become overwhelmed with static.

Ulube unsheathed his beam saber and tried his best to defend himself from his enemy's many limbs as he continued to charge forward. Sometimes he would catch a glimpse of the combiner's main body. First it looked like it had gone back to its giant Rising Gundam form. Seconds later it was an oversized Burning Gundam. Then it became… _him._ A gigantic gold version of himself with an overly wide, fanged grin. It leered at him with those heterochromatic eyes. He knew it was mocking him again, but he couldn't help but gawk at it. In his hesitation, a couple of tendrils grabbed him by his legs. He cut himself loose and tried not to look at the fiend anymore.

The cliff was now less than a hundred meters away. At the very last second, Ulube flew straight up, almost scraping his test fighter's chest against the rocks. Just as he cleared the top, an enormous crash from below shook the entire plateau. Dust clouds billowed up everywhere from landslides caused from the shock. His vision was obscured from the debris, but he knew that the monster had crashed headlong into the cliff.

He knew he wasn't safe yet, of course; it wouldn't take long for that thing to get back on its feet. But as he steered his Gundam forward, it slowed down and came to a stop instead.

"What just happened...?" Puzzled, he checked the mobile suit's system status. He wasn't receiving any errors. He tried commanding it to fly again but it refused to budge. He began to hyperventilate through his mouth, despite lacking lungs. He needed to get out of there before that demon came to.

He stumbled as his Gundam suddenly lurched forward. It then turned itself around and began to slowly fly back over the cliff.

"No! Not that way!" he shouted at it while slamming his hand against the console.

The test fighter descended and gently landed in front of the cliffside. Embedded in the rock was an enormous golden, pixilated blob that resembled the Dark Gundam with its back turned to him. Perhaps it was his malfunctioning eyes, but he swore he saw its face grow out of the back of its head, its chest form out of its back, and its lower face exchange places with its skidplate.

"What is...h-happening?!" Ulube stammered as he continued to rapidly mash buttons on his console. He thought he finally got a response when a message appeared on his front screen. The words, however, told him differently.

"VERY CLEVER, BUT NOT CLEVER ENOUGH, 'GENIUS FIGHTER'."

His side screens panned down to show him his test fighter's body. Golden splotches covered his arms and legs.

"How...?" he was dumbfounded. Why didn't his security systems warn him that his systems were being compromised?

"Give it up, Ulube!" the Domon's voice barked at him.

The Major looked up to see the mechanical monster facing him. It had reverted back to its Dark and Burning Gundam hybrid form. Its gelatinous chest pulled open like a pair of curtains, revealing Domon and Rain inside. They were holding hands and glaring at him.

He slammed the eject button. No response.

"We're giving you one last chance to surrender!" Rain shouted.

He desperately tried to keep himself from trembling as he flattened one of his fingers and slipped it under the eject button.

"NO...never!" he roared, hoping his loudspeakers still functioned, "I...I'll never surrender to you, or your pet monster!"

The speakers did in fact work, as Domon replied with, "Then you leave us no choice."

He and Rain locked hands.

 _"This hand of mine is BURNING RED!"_

 _"This hand of mine is FREEZING COLD!"_

Domon pumped his arm, "Their loud tells us...!"

"...To grasp happiness!" Rain finished, pumping her arm.

They swung each other around, yelling simultaneously.

 ** _"ERUPTING...!"_**

 ** _"FREEZING...!"_**

They posed with Rain reclining in front and Domon standing in back. The hybrid Gundam spread it wings, creating a rainbow halo around them. Its conjoined power regulators emerged from its liquid armor.

 ** _"...BURNING FINGER!"_**

 ** _"...DARKNESS FINGER!"_**

They stood up beside each other, Domon's left hand glowing red and Rain's right hand glowing blue. They put their palms together, creating a purple light. Their mutant Gundam stretched its arms out in front of it.

 ** _"SEKIHA LOVE LOVE TENKYOKEN!"_**

The Dark Gundam roared as it fired off a purple projectile emblazoned with the King of Hearts crest. The image of a giant blonde man dressed in a crown and purple robe emerged from the projectile and charged at the helpless test Gundam. Its features were too clear to be a glitch or hallucination. Ulube removed his finger from the control panel and slammed the button one last time as the cockpit flooded with light.

* * *

The attack bore a heart-shaped hole through the Ulube's mobile fighter before it exploded. Domon and Rain looked down at the burning wreckage, looking for any signs of life.

"Is it over...?" Rain asked.

"I think so," the King of Hearts replied softly.

Before either one of them could relax, they were both overcome by a wave of dizziness followed by disorienting, jumbled feedback from the hybrid Gundam. Domon fell to his knees, and Rain leaned against a wall to steady herself. The combiner opened its fanged mouth wide and let out a long, pained moan as it buried its head in its hands.

 _ERROR! TH-THIS-THIS...EMOTION! I...DO NOT...UNDERSTAND! I CAN-N-NOT...PROCESS!_

The machine's golden armor faded to back to silver and began to melt. Domon quickly ripped the cable out of the back of his neck, then ran over to Rain and did the same. She let out a sharp yelp as he did so, but he had no time to feel guilty. He reached under her knees and scooped her up in his arms.

"Hang on to me, Rain," he instructed. "We're getting outta here!"

She wrapped her arms around his neck as he leaped out of the open cockpit. A cascade of liquid metal splattered all over the spot they had been just been standing. The Gundam Fighter sailed through the air and landed on the ground on his good leg and the knee of his injured one. He took a few more giant leaps to make sure that he was clear of the melting machine before setting Rain on her feet.

They turned around and watched as the Dark Gundam's gelatinous body peeled itself off the Burning Gundam. The latter stood up straight, looking as if it had been completely repaired. Upon closer inspection, however, oozing green cables could be seen wriggling around inside its joints and under its armor. Meanwhile, the Dark Gundam reformed itself next to it, returning to its default form and colors. It stood there, unmoving, its optics off. The humans felt no sensations or emotions from it.

Domon sat down, his back against a rock, his broken leg straight out in front of him. The metal cast had turned black, blending in with his fightsuit.

"Imagine that," he remarked, "Looks like the Dark Gundam can't handle that attack, even if it's the one doing it!"

"I suppose," Rain replied, "Anyway, are you alright? How's your leg?"

"I'm fine," Domon smirked, "It's not even bothering me anymore."

Rain sighed at his response. She wouldn't be surprised if he broke his other leg too.

"It might not be hurting now, but try not to put any more weight on it anyway," she instructed, "Stay here for now, and I'll head back to the car. I'll call your father and let him know about this entire mess. I'll tell him we'll need an ambulance too."

"Now wait just a second," Domon argued as he began to pick himself up, "There's still a chance Ulube might still be around. And besides, it's not that-" He suddenly hissed in pain and sat back down.

"You see? That's why you shouldn't keep putting your weight on it," Rain scolded, "Just sit tight. I'll be fine. I'm pretty sure Ulube wouldn't have survived and explosion like th-"

A deep growl interrupted the humans' conversation. They looked up to see the Dark Gundam's optics flaring to life. It did not make a move, however; it simply stood there, rumbling softly. Domon and Rain felt muted contentment wash over them.

 _What a wonderful sensation that was!_ it exclaimed. _I am not familiar with this emotion, but it supplies me with the most energy out of all those I've experienced!_

"It's called 'love,'" Rain explained.

 _"Love." Yes, I believe I have heard of it,_ the Dark Gundam purred, _May I have some more?_

"Not right now," Rain answered, "We need to get you back to base first."

 _I cannot to go back to the hangar. I just escaped from there,_ The machine lowered its head.

"Yeah? Well, you don't have a choice!" Domon snapped at it while pointing behind him.

On the horizon, the sky was littered with dark dots that were slowly heading in their direction. As they approached, they revealed themselves to be a fleet of Neo Japanese military airships and mobile suits.

"Looks like help has already arrived," the Gundam Fighter said.


	13. The Future Looks Brighter and Brighter

**Disclaimer:** Mobile Fighter G Gundam is owned by Bandai and Sunrise. I just write about it in my spare time.

 **Author's Note:** Many thanks to ALittleSalty1 for all her help with this story! Please check out her fanfics sometime!

 **On the Dark Side**  
 **Chapter 13: Is It Over Now? The Future Looks Brighter and Brighter**

The low hum of the ships' engines became audible as the fleet drew near. Domon and Rain felt the Dark Gundam's contentment snatched away by mounting fear.

 _No! I cannot go back!_ it cried, _They will dismantle me!_

The humans tensed as its chest opened slightly and few cables spilled out. However, the tendrils simply dangled lifelessly.

 _ERROR! Motor systems not responding due to emotion processing taking up all resources!_ it explained.

Rain and Domon felt its fear intensifying in their minds. Rain's body trembled to the point of having to lean against a rock, and Domon buried his face in his hands.

"Get out of my head!" he screamed.

"Everybody calm down!" Rain shouted. She closed her eyes for a moment and felt around for the source point of the Dark Gundam's mental connection. She took several deep breaths to calm herself, then focused on sending that calmness to the panicked machine. Its fear subsided somewhat, just enough so that she stopped shaking.

"Listen," she told it, "you need to let them take you back."

 _I do not understand_ , the Gundam protested, _If I allow them to bring me back to the base, I will be disposed of!_

"And maybe you won't!" Rain replied, "You did some good things out here today. If you show them what you did, then perhaps …they may change their mind?"

The Dark Gundam's fear gradually faded and was replaced with a dull unhappiness.

 _It is highly unlikely that showing the military personnel my battle footage will affect their decision,_ it said.

"You could at least try," Rain said. A bead of sweat rolled down her forehead. She had run out of ideas, and she was afraid the machine would start panicking again.

Instead, its emotions abruptly stopped as it slowly turned its head in the direction of the test Gundam's wreckage. It stared into space for a few moments before turning back to the humans.

 _Perhaps my fears are irrational_ , it said cryptically. _Upon further analysis, this situation is not as dire as I first thought. Therefore, I will allow the recovery team to return me to the base._

"Oh…that's good," Rain wasn't sure what happened, but she felt relieved.

 _But know this,_ the Dark Gundam added, _When the military decides to proceed with dismantling me, I will find a way to escape again. I will make sure that they will not capture me next time._

Rain let out a small gasp as her body tensed.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Domon demanded.

The giant Gundam did not answer, instead looking up at the advancing fleet. The ships were descending and spreading out, surrounding the area.

 _The military vessels have arrived,_ the Gundam said, _Therefore, I must take leave of you now,_ It looked back down at them, _I hope that we can meet again soon so that I may experience more "love."_

It then turned off its optics off. Its presence faded from the humans' minds. They stared at it in silence for a few moments, waiting to see if it would make a move.

Finally, Domon broke the silence with, "Leave it to the Dark Gundam to make love sound creepy."

As Rain turned to look at him, he added, "I gotta say, it's really amazing how you got it to listen to you."

"Well, it wasn't easy," she sighed.

"Let's just hope it keeps listening to you," he said.

Rain uttered some words of agreement, but they were drowned out by the roar of ship's engine. A medical ship landed a few hundred meters from their position along with a small squadron of armed Nobusshi.

She waved to them, "Over here! We've got a man down!"

"Aww, Rain!" Domon groaned, burying his face in his palms.

A medical team dressed in hazmat suits rushed out of the ship with stretchers and headed over to them as fast as the rocky soil would allow. The Nobusshi escort slowly followed, their weapons trained on the silent Dark Gundam. The team reached Domon first and quickly assessed his wounds. Deciding not to trust his DG Cell cast, they reinforced his broken leg with splints and tape. Then they carefully lifted Domon onto a stretcher, despite him insisting that he could walk it off. Another team hurried up to Rain.

"Are you okay, ma'am?" a medic asked through his respirator.

"I'm alright. Just a few bumps and bruises," she explained, "But it's probably better to carry me back anyway. This suit is actually made of DG Cells."

The team nodded and laid out the stretcher for her. She climbed in, and they swiftly escorted her off the battlefield. She looked up to see a cargo ship hovering directly over the Dark Gundam. Thick cables with tipped with bladed anchors shot out from underneath the ship and surrounded the quiet mobile fighter. The anchors opened, and the electrodes inside sprang out and began to glow. They created an energy net around the Gundam, and the ship carefully lifted it off the ground. Rain swore she saw a brief glint of green in its optics as it was slowly hoisted up into the hold.

The medevac team loaded her into their vessel along with Domon. As the bay door closed behind her, she shivered. She had a sinking feeling that this would not be the last she saw of the Dark Gundam.

* * *

The Dark Gundam peacefully rumbled to itself as it continued to enjoy the emotion known as "love." It didn't even mind when the humans loaded it back into its hangar and imprisoned it behind the energy barriers. It did not attempt to take a life unit, or even growl at its handlers. The humans had quite a few conversations over their radios wondering why it was so cooperative, and what it was actually up to. In reality, it couldn't fight back if it wanted to; most of its systems were still overloaded by the new sensation.

The Gundam watched as personnel secured the barriers before exiting its hangar. Because the main bay doors were still under repair, they had to close the emergency shutters behind them. Now alone, the machine spent the next few hours contentedly processing the data on the positive emotions. This had to be done first to free up its resources.

The door to the control room suddenly opened. Dr. Raizo Kasshu entered the room along with an unfamiliar male human that must have been a new assistant.

"As you can see, it appears to be offline right now," the doctor explained to his companion. "However, it's actually online at all times. Please don't try to shut it off - it doesn't work, and will only further agitate it. We may be safe thanks to those barriers, but we still don't want to risk anything."

The Gundam watched quietly as the humans started up their computers. It hadn't expected that its creator would come to work today; it had predicted his research would have cancelled effective immediately. It slowly began encrypting any data it did not want them to see, the process lagged by its still overloaded systems.

As it felt its creator's terminal connecting to its CPU, it recalled Rain Mikamura's suggestion to show them its footage from the previous battle. However, it decided against doing so; for the time being, it did not want anyone else to know about Major Ulube Ishikawa's revival after the Gundam Fight. That knowledge might jeopardize something the machine had in mind.

The Dark Gundam let the humans work as it returned to its data analysis of this mysterious new emotion. It had determined that with a steady supply of this "love," it would have more energy than it would ever need. It could easily restore Earth's biosphere without having to harm another human being. Its most generous estimates predicted that it would still be able to restore worldwide environmental damage even if a Gundam Fight was held every year.

It wished it had known about the power of this emotion earlier. If it had the capability to process this "love" from the beginning, then...

It paused. That fear response had suddenly returned. It decided to ignore it this time and continue its conclusion.

...If it had the capability to process this "love" from the beginning, then the violence during the previous Gundam Fight would not have had to happen.

The fear response was replaced with a new negative emotion. It found itself regretting its past actions, finding them detrimental to itself and its directives. Comparisons to human emotions showed that it was similar to Rain Mikamura's "sorrow." This sensation was unacceptable, so it quickly looked for rationalizations. It did not possess the ability to process emotions until a few months ago, and it is possible that it would have never gained it if past events had been different. Some violence was necessary due to being hunted by the Neo Japanese military and Domon Kasshu. Some of the violence was committed by its associates, and therefore-

Its depressive thoughts were interrupted by an error message. An unauthorized program had been transmitting data through its DG Cell network for the past couple of minutes. It was in communication with Rain Mikamura, who was still currently within range.

The Dark Gundam had just enough resources free to activate its antivirus scanner. It already knew what that unknown program was. It quietly grumbled to itself, followed by a long, deep sigh.

* * *

There was a knock on her door.

"Come in," Rain replied.

A nurse stepped in, with a gown and gloves on. He was carrying a large shopping bag.

"Good evening, Dr. Mikamura," he said, "A neighbor of yours stopped by to drop off your things."

"Oh, thank you," she said. "You can put it on the chair."

The nurse placed did as he was told. After reminding her to let him know if she needed anything else, he left and closed the door behind him.

Rain was back in the government hospital again. Hours earlier, she had undergone the decontamination process along with Domon and Ken. It was much faster for her this time, as the metal coating was still a gel and easily peeled off. She was currently quarantined in a room by herself. She had been sitting in bed, watching TV and awaiting her next anti-DG Cell treatment.

She leaned over and took a peek inside the bag. Not long after she had been transferred to her room, she had made a couple of phone calls. One was to get her car towed (hopefully it was still intact), the other was to ask Mr. Watanabe to send some stuff from home. She found a note from him right on top.

 _Ms. Mikamura_ ,

 _Sorry to hear you're in the hospital again. Also sorry to hear your boyfriend's in there with you this time. Here's hoping your luck turns around, because I don't want to see you kids in there a third time!_

 _I also wanted to let you know that the towing guys returned your car. I hope you don't mind, but I went in there and took everything out of it. The car was unlocked, and I didn't want anything to get stolen._

 _Anyway, here's hoping the both of you get better soon!_

 _-Watanabe_

Rain smiled to herself as she put the note down. She took another look inside the bag to find a change of clothes, and surprisingly, her phone. She turned it on and found four messages waiting for her. She had a good feeling she knew who they were from as went to her voicemails and pressed play.

"Heya, Rain! It's me, your old pal Chibodee!" a familiar New York dialect greeted her, "Anyway, I couldn't help but notice that my crest was going crazy last night! Is everything okay down there? If you guys need any help, feel free to let me know. Me and the gals will come runnin', okay? See ya later!"

Rain bit her lip as she paused the messages. She sat quietly for a moment, wondering what to tell her friends. Telling them about Ulube was a must, but what about the Dark Gundam? She was still under a gag order, after all. On the other hand, the thing had escaped twice since the Gundam Fight, and promised to escape again.

She couldn't do anything right now, however. Once she was out of the hospital, she'd make a careful plan to leak the information to the rest of the Shuffle Alliance. Right at the moment, she'd let them know she was fine, but she had something important to tell them later.

"Are you okay, Rain?"

Rain yelped and dropped her phone on the bed. She looked up to see Kyoji standing next to her bed.

"Sorry, did mean to scare you," he apologized.

"No, no, it's okay," Rain replied, "It's good to see you again. You were gone for so long, I thought the Dark Gundam might've done something to you!"

"It's tried to delete me a lot, but I always manage to move my files just in time," he explained, "For awhile now I've been hanging out on my father's computer. Makes it lag, but the Dark Gundam can't get me there."

"So I guess that means you're a...?"

"Computer program? Yes. I'm the template of the original Kyoji's personality. I was used in the creation of Schwartz Bruder."

"I see. That makes sense," Rain briefly recalled wondering what he was at one point. "You're definitely not a ghost, then."

"No, unfortunately. Wouldn't have to worry about getting deleted if I was!" Kyoji joked, smiling.

"So why are you here?"

"Earlier today, something strange happened," he explained. "I think I might have been knocked offline. All I know is that the internal clock on Father's computer suddenly skipped ahead a few hours, and the Dark Gundam's connection disappeared. When it was reconnected, it was very busy compiling data on some new power source. It didn't even notice when I uploaded myself back into its CPU. I checked its network to see Domon is on it now, and the both of you were in the hospital. Thought I'd ask what happened since both of you are still in range."

"A lot of things, that's for sure," Rain told him, "First...do you know anything about what happened right after the Gundam Fight?"

"A little bit," he answered, "Most of it is pieced together from the Dark Gundam's memory banks. I wasn't quite self-aware back then."

"Okay, well...do you remember Ulube being defeated the first time?"

"I've seen the footage of it." He paused, "By 'first time,' I'm assuming that means...?"

"He came back somehow," Rain continued. "He also got his hands on some experimental software that practically made him psychic. He was the one that stole those military mobile suits and attacked the Dark Gundam's cargo ship. Today, he used it to lure Domon into an ambush and took out the Burning Gundam!" She paused and frowned. "At the same time, the Dark Gundam managed to escape again because of an earthquake. It made its way to me, and we used its power to defeat Ulube again. We think he's gone for good this time, at least we hope so."

Kyoji raised an eyebrow. "…The Dark Gundam actually cooperated with you?"

Rain nodded. "Yeah, it did. I know this sounds crazy, but after that dream, I think it's learned to respect me! At least for now, anyway."

"It sounds like you accomplished a lot while I was gone," Kyoji smiled again. "Looks like you guys don't need me after all."

"Oh, don't say that!" Rain protested.

Kyoji chuckled. "Just kidding."

Rain smiled slightly. "So what are you going to do now?"

"I'll continue to keep watch over the Dark Gundam from the inside," he replied. "Someone needs to make sure it behaves itself."

"Are you going to talk to Domon?" Rain asked.

"I'm not sure," Kyoji sighed, his shoulders drooping, "I really want to say hello before the remaining DG Cells are removed from his body. But at the same time...he saw two versions of me die already. I'm afraid my presence will just upset him."

"Maybe," she said, "but it might not hurt to try anyway. He might be upset at first, but he'd probably be glad to know that you still survived in some way."

"I'll...have to think about it," he said, as he turned his gaze down at the floor.

A second later, he bolted straight up, eyes wide. He sneered as he whipped his head to and fro, glaring at some invisible objects above him. The room suddenly became cold and dark.

"Kyoji, what's wrong?!" she cried. "What do you see?"

"I think the Dark Gundam just realized I'm here," he answered, clenching a fist. "That would be my cue to go."

His form turned transparent. He turned back to her and the smile returned to his face.

"Just remember: I might be a program, but I still love you guys," he said as he began to fade, "I'll try to help in any way I can. Take care of yourselves!"

"Goodbye," Rain whispered as he disappeared from view.

The room returned to its normal brightness and temperature. She continued to stare wistfully at the empty space, in vague hopes that he would come back. Minutes passed and nothing happened. She sighed and looked at her phone. She didn't feel like listening to her other messages right now.

* * *

Night had fallen on the rocky stretch of land. Scorched soil, burned scrap metal, and small pieces of broken glass were all that remained of the earlier Gundam battle. A large pile of ash and slag marked the place where the test Gundam had been destroyed.

Something stirred in that ash. A twitching metal hand tried to pull itself out from under a plate of melted glass, but simply did not have the strength to. Ulube stared into space, trying desperately not to go offline again.

Earlier, he had managed to eject his core lander from his experimental Gundam. Unfortunately for him, the explosion was large enough to destroy the lander before it could escape. The lower half of his body had been reduced to useless sand. His right arm had fallen off and would not reattach. What was left him twitched involuntarily and occasionally produced sparks. Half of his "hair" had melted off too.

His self-repair systems were not functioning. Not even the new cells he had received from the Dark Gundam were mending themselves or the cells around them. His old cells were gradually shutting down and sloughing off. His CPU had been randomly shutting itself down and rebooting. His vision was plagued with static and fatal error messages.

He could think of nothing else to do but wonder where it had all gone wrong. He had found a program that gave him pre-cognition. He had Domon Kasshu right where he had wanted him – twice! He had even defeated the latest version of the Dark Gundam. How did he still lose?

The short answer was that the Dark Gundam was far more resourceful than he thought; he never expected it to combine with the Burning Gundam. But there was something more to it than that. There had to be another reason.

He thought about where his losing streak first started – the 12th Gundam Fight Finals. What did he do differently before then? He recalled that his fixation on power began after his humiliating defeat. Was his obsession the reason he kept losing? It couldn't be.

But maybe it was. Back then, he saw his opponents as human beings instead of objects to be dominated. After he became addicted to power, all of his best laid plans would fail in the end.

Was he wrong about the nature of power? His body continued to twitch as he thought it over. The Shuffle Alliance was able to destroy his Grand Master Gundam with the power of their friendship. Domon and Rain used the power of their love to combine their mobile fighters and nearly vaporize him.

If there was something to that, it was permanently beyond his reach. He hadn't had anyone he considered a friend or a loved one in ages. Even if he wasn't a rotting pile of nanotech, he wasn't sure if he was even capable of falling in love or forming a friendship. He had long suspected that he himself was a psychopath. This was a revelation that came too late. He slumped in resignation. This was the end for him.

 _Have you reconsidered my earlier offer?_

Ulube shuddered uncontrollably when the voice in his head startled him. Just when he thought the situation couldn't get any worse…

Unable to speak, he messaged the demon back over their mental connection.

"Why are you here, Dark Gundam? What could you possibly want from me now?"

 _I wish to know if you will accept my offer to become my auxiliary life unit,_ the machine answered.

"Of course not!" Ulube replied, "I'd rather die than become a puppet again!"

He felt irritation briefly flash through the Gundam's mind before it immediately replaced with a muted sadness.

 _I understand why you are refusing,_ it said, _I believe I have "make things up to you." Perhaps I can offer you something that will change your mind?_

Ulube's ravaged body spasmed violently as he gurgled in rage. His fury almost caused his CPU to crash.

"You've taken everything from me!" he responded, wishing that he could scream. "You've taken my body, my life – you even took my mind! You _can't_ just "make up" for what you've done! Don't you understand?! You can't just negotiate absorbing me! There is NOTHING you could offer me to make me go along with-!"

He quickly fell silent when he felt the Dark Gundam enter his mind. His decaying body shuddered all over, sending metal flakes flying. It invaded his memory and leafed through the recent files. He was too weak to fight it; all he could hope for was another random reboot.

 _You wish to know what the true nature of power is, and how "love" relates to it,_ it said.

Ulube's lip formed a shaky sneer as he hesitated, "...Yes."

 _While I cannot determine if "love" provides the most amount of power overall, I can tell you that it is a very potent source of energy,_ the Gundam explained, _I have determined that with a steady supply of "love," I could restore Earth without having to resort to violence._

"Congratulations," Ulube replied, "I still won't become your-..."

A warm feeling suddenly came over him. His body stopped convulsing, and his glitching vision cleared up.

 _I will share with you the energy I received from Domon Kasshu and Rain Mikamura's 'love',_ the Dark Gundam told him, _I will give you a small amount so that it does not overwhelm your systems._

The major had tuned the machine out, enjoying the sensation that had washed over him. It brought back pleasant memories of lying on his mother's lap as he listened to her humming, stroking his hair on breezy summer nights. Of his first time in the warm, sensual embrace of a woman in the heat of passion. Of being genuinely respected by his fellow soldiers. Of the night he was accepted by Neo Japan as their Gundam Fighter.

He closed his eyes, feeling the most content he had been in a long time. For the first time in years, he smiled, and that smile was the truth.

* * *

I hope it's really over now _._ That's what Rain thought as she sipped a cup of tea.

She was sitting out on her balcony again, having a drink and contemplating life. The air was much cooler now. Leaves were just beginning to turn orange or yellow on the maple and gingko trees.

It had been a week since the battle with Ulube. She had no more mysterious chills or bad dreams. The Dark Gundam never contacted her again, not even by text messages. Neither she nor Domon spotted any strange, shady people were following them around. There were no news reports about government cargo ships getting attacked, or military mobile suits getting stolen.

Hopefully, life would finally get back to normal. Rain put her teacup back down on the table as she looked down at the street below. There were a few people walking up and down the sidewalks. Sometimes they would enter a building. Sometimes they would cross to the road. It was nothing exciting, but Rain was glad not to have excitement for once.

That's when she saw him. He had his back turned to her. A man with shoulder-length, feathery hair in a blue jacket.

"Kyoji?!" Rain cried. She jumped to her feet causing the table to shake and her chair to fall over. She stepped up to the railing to get a better look at the man.

He turned around to open a car door. From what she could make of his features, he had a pug nose and a rounded face. Emblazoned on the front of his jacket was the logo of a local noodle shop. Definitely not Kyoji.

She sighed with relief as she walked away from the railing. As she picked her chair back up, she noticed that she had spilled her tea. This time, however, she remembered to bring napkins with her.

The tea didn't turn silver when she wiped it up. Yes, maybe things were finally over.

 **THE END**


End file.
